


Grieving Birds (Trapped in the Heavens)

by Run_Away_Pen



Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, Runaways (Comics)
Genre: AU, Action, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Awkward Romance, Chase/Victor/Gert is all debatable, Drama & Romance, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Karolina Dean/Julie Powers at the beginning, Like almost overpowered, Molly is a cinnamon roll, Multi, Neither Chase or Nico is over Murderworld, Nico Minoru/Karolina Dean endgame, Nico is a little OoC, Nico is kind of a vigilante, Nico's a badass-ish in this story, Nico's powerful, Nico-centric, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Tags Are Hard, and also a dork too, between Karolina and Nico, like a lot of tension, mentions of Xavin - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-27
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2019-12-18 14:42:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 32,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18251921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Run_Away_Pen/pseuds/Run_Away_Pen
Summary: All Chase wanted to do was bring his girlfriend back. Simple right? Well it would’ve been, if it totally didn’t screw up his relationship with said girlfriend (which was unintentional, by the way), and cause his family, the kids that went through the same thing (except the saving-your-girlfriend-thing) to come back together… except for one person.Oh, and did he forget to mention that the children of the Gods that they got rid of are back to do the same thing their parents did? Yeah, that one slipped his mind.ORAU where Nico, similar to the comics, left the group after Murderworld, but with a twist. Instead, Nico lives her life as a wandering recluse in search of something (-cough- an artifact -cough-), cutting near all contact with her friends, save for Chase.





	1. To Rebuild or To Raze

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there everyone!
> 
> This is my first (maybe only, if this turns out terrible) fic! Loved the Runaways TV show and love the 2017 comics! I read a little bit of the first volumes (and Murderworld) so forgive me for any plot holes we may encounter on this journey.
> 
> Which means, sadly, unless I find a way to fit it in, Nico never joined A-Force.
> 
> Also can we get a hurrah for the show’s third season renewal news?!
> 
> I don’t own the Runaways, I’m just a loving fan of it :).

 

Chase felt for Nico, he really did. Considering the hell they went through  _ there _ , who wouldn’t become changed from the experience, but at least he didn’t shape everything around it, did he?... Okay, maybe going back in time to save his dead girlfriend, bringing her to the present and having Nico (who looked slightly, he can’t stress the  _ slightly _ , better this time than the last time he saw her) save her, only for said friend to disappear right as soon as the job was done, is a little over the top, but still! Gert’s back and now she wants the band back together. Easier said than done really.

 

(but first, they had to make a quick stop to the hostel, to pick up Old Lace and make the discovery that Tony Stark had, indeed, sent Victor’s head to the hostel, which in Chase’s book, is both way too extra and creepy, but hey, who was he to judge?)

 

So, here they were, in front of Karolina’s dorm where Chase stopped right as soon as his hand touched the door. He couldn’t do it, not before, not now, not ever.  _ This was a mistake, is what you would say, right Nico? Or would you say that I’m a coward for not even being able to knock on her door? _

 

Gert simply rolled her eyes and knocked on the door, muttering something incoherently under her breath. When no one came to answer the door, Gert knocked again, louder, with a hint of impatience to her hits. This time, the door opened to reveal Karolina, looking as happy and glowing (figuratively of course) as she could be.  _ She looks better than the last time I saw her,  _ Chase couldn’t help but crack a smile,  _ good for her. _

 

“Chase! Old Lace! And… Gert?” Karolina’s eyes moved from one person (and dinosaur) to the other. Gert huffed before smiling, “looks like I’m not dead. Thank Chase.”

 

Surprised to say the least, Karolina could only think of one-okay, two- questions:  _ how is Gert alive? And where’s Nico? _

 

The awkward silence was broken when Gert asked, “can we come in?” Shaken from her shock, Karolina ushered them into the room, where they decided to take her bed hostage. Taking a seat in a chair, the blond alien was quickly filled in on what had happened hours ago, though Chase omitted the part of asking Nico for help saving Gert. Karolina caught it though, which raised even more questions.  _ Where is she? Why isn’t she with them? Is she  _ okay _? _

 

At the end of the story, Gert exclaims, “so pack your stuff, we’re leaving right now.” Karolina, still absorbing the story, frowned, “leaving? Where are we going? I can’t leave in the middle of the semester.” Scowling, Gert threw her hands up in exasperation, “home, where else? Do you really like it here, with all these  _ adults _ ?”

 

The college student opened her mouth and closed it, clearly at a loss for words, averted her eyes guilty. Gert, having gotten her answer, stormed out of the dorm, frustrated, “fine, I’ll be in the van.” When the door slammed, Chase stood there awkwardly looking at Karolina. As he turned to leave, he felt an hand grip his bicep. Looking back, he saw Karolina’s hand stopping him from leaving. The blonde bit her lip and looked at Chase with eyes shining with unshed tears, “I’m sorry, Chase, I really am. But I can’t leave school just like that. I hope you understand.”

 

Chase smiled, a tight lipped smiled, “It’s alright, Karo, I get it. You have your reasons, just like…”

 

“Nico?”

 

“Yeah, just like her…”

 

Karolina wanted to ask:  _ how is she? Have you seen her? Where is she? Is she still  _ alive _?  _ So many questions ran in her head but she didn’t have the courage to ask. Instead, she released her grip in Chase, letting him run out the door after Gert. Curling in on herself, Karolina stifled a sob as tears started to run down her face.

 

“I’m allowed to be happy… right?”

 

* * *

 

 

Chase sighed as Gert and Old Lace climbed into the van, conflicted about Karolina refusing to come with them and his feelings for Gert.  _ We can try Molly, but last I checked, she’s happy… I think _ , running a hand through his hair, he turned to look at Gert, as if asking for her opinion. Chase almost turned around to the back, before realizing that there was nobody in the back seat, but Old Lace, who was sound asleep. Finally, the man turned to look at Victor, or rather, Victor’s head, as if it would suddenly come back to life and perhaps give him some sense of direction. But, of course, it didn’t, leaving them in a state of awkward silence.

 

Eventually, Gert snapped, “just drive, Chase!” 

 

Chase, jumping out of shock, did exactly as he was told, “but where are we going? Karolina’s a bust, you want to go to Molly next? Gert, I told you-”

 

“I know what you said! I’m choosing to not believe it until I see it with my own eyes, got it? Now drive, I assume you know the way.” Gert was clearly angry, and when Gert’s angry, she’s twice as stubborn as calm Gert. Left with no choice, Chase pulled out of the parking spot and set a course to Molly’s house, praying that Gert won’t be too disappointed at what she finds there.  _ I should text Nico to ask if I could crash at her place for a night, and if she threw out my stuff too... _  Unfortunately, driving and texting without your girlfriend (ex girlfriend?) noticing was a challenge in itself and Chase hopes the series of texts he sent weren’t a fumble of letters, that at least Nico gets an idea of what he’s asking. Pocketing the phone just as Gert pokes him for the green light, Chase can’t help but wonder if what he did was wrong, if Nico left because she  _ knew _ .

 

_ Surely not _ , the blonde tried to convince himself.  _ Nico’s been like this since  _ that  _ happened. I she was disappointed she would’ve said something. _ frowning , Chase gripped the steering wheel and tried to banish those thoughts out of his head. Right now, the important thing is that Gert’s alive and here in this moment.

 

Even if their family is fragmented.

 

* * *

 

 

**Somewhere Else…**

 

The sound of footsteps cut through the silence of the night, as a thin and pale hand grabbed the jacket draped over the chair to put it on. The ping of a message came after, drawing the attention of the one leaving. Picking up the phone, eyes scanned the messages while zipping up their boots and quickly typing out a message back. The rustling from the bed drew their attention as a black-haired woman, still quite sleepy, propped herself against the headboard. Underneath the sheets, the woman was naked. 

 

“ _もう帰るの?_ ” **¹** The woman, blinking twice in an attempt to wipe away the drowsiness, asked. The other one in the room, stood silently for a moment, appreciating the naked beauty of the woman, nodded, “うん.” **²** The woman nodded, sinking back into the comfort of the silk sheets muttering, “ドアをロックすることを忘れないでください.”³before falling back to sleep.

 

The guest, having collected their things, gripped their bag and slung it over their shoulder, before leaving, locking the door on their way out. Pulling out their phone again, the figure, dressed in complete black, made a quick phone call before pocketing it once more. Staring up at the night sky, with a snap of their finger, the stars dimmed and the scene changed from grass and trees to concrete buildings and smoke. Quickly scanning their surroundings, the figure in black walked out from the alley to the main street, with no clear sense of direction.

 

Letting out a puff of air, a whisper left thin lips.

 

“I guess… it’s time to go home now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. もう帰るの? - Leaving already?  
> 2\. うん. - Yeah  
> 3\. ドアをロックすることを忘れないでください - remember to lock the door
> 
> So, How was the first chapter? Don't worry, if you think it's terrible, feel free to tell me, my feelings won't be hurt. I enjoy criticism. 
> 
> Please comment if you enjoy (or hate) my work. I'll try to post a new chapter on a regular basis!


	2. Grilled Cheese, Cats, and a Head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Molly's not an idiot.
> 
> But then again, she's totally left in the dark on a lot of things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woooo, two chapters back to back! I didn't think I be able to pull that off, really thought that I'd be doing one chapter a week
> 
> BUT
> 
> the positive comments and feedback I received on the first chapter really inspired me to write the second one immediately. I know I'm not a great writer but the comments really helps, so thank you all! :D
> 
> A special shout out goes to rulolarata, one of my favorite writers for the Runaways, who actually inspired me to write myself! So, thank you rulolarata!
> 
> Oh, something to note (you can totally skip this if you want): each chapter, the way I planned it, cover one to three issues of the 2017 comics, so if it feels like I'm glossing over some details... I am LOL
> 
> (I'm just not great at writing details, but I will try to write in details as we get into the story, I promise)

Molly Hayes was no idiot.

 

Sure she was only thirteen and superstrong, but no one said being strong and being smart were mutually exclusive. So of course, when Chase, Old Lace, Victor’s head and _Gert_ showed up at her house, she kind of had an idea as to what may have happened.

 

Was she happy Chase did it? No.

 

Okay, maybe a little bit. She’s really missed them after all. Plus, there was plenty of grilled cheese to go around as the older kids (well, one adult and one teen, but it’s the same thing) made themselves as comfortable as they can (she noticed Victor eyeing the sandwich from underneath his eyelids), the young girl noticed something missing.

 

Or rather, _someone_.

 

Guiding her friends to her room after several delicious grilled cheese sandwiches (her grandma really did make the best, Molly would think after they escape from the house later on), Molly had an inkling as to what Gert was going to say. And Gert said exactly what she thought Gert would say.

 

“Where’s your suitcase? Is there anything important you want to bring with you?”

 

Molly shook her head, “Gert, I can’t go. I live _here_ . With my grandma.” Gert was definitely confused and perhaps even a little angry, “Molly, Chase is sorry for leaving you behind, but now we can go back to us again,, back to being a family!” Molly winced, the look on Gert’s face made it hard for her to utter the next words but she was _happy_ here, with grandma. She can’t leave this behind, even if it’s Gert asking.

 

“Gert… I _have_ a family here.”

 

Gert stopped in her tracks, shocked and hurt. Molly, the girl she considered a sister, basically said that they weren’t family.

 

 _After everything we went through together…_ Unable to stand the tension in the room, Gert turned and ran out the door, Old Lace watching between the two girls before running after the purple haired girl, rumbling in concern.

 

Biting her lip, Molly turned, crouching in front of Victor, and poked him, “Victor? I know you’re awake. Or is it alive? C’mon Victor.” Molly poked him twice more before Victor opened his eyes and smiled at Molly. Giddy with joy, Molly picked up the head and twirled him around, giggling with pure happiness. But the moment wouldn’t last, as Princess Powerful remembers their situation, a look Victor mirrors. Setting the cyborg down on the mattress, Molly flopped down next to Victor, staring up at the ceiling of her room. She didn’t know how to begin or if Victor even knew the answers, but right now she just wanted to know.

 

“Where’s Nico?”

 

Victor stared at a speck of dust, not answering, before eyeing Molly, “imagine I’m shrugging. Molly, I don’t think anyone knows where she is. Nico’s a…sensitive topic to talk about, Chase said that she’s okay though! We know how strong Nico is, so...” Molly turned to her side turning Victor over to her as well, “ fine, I just ask Chase later. let’s talk about you, how come you’re pretending to be dead? For how long? Where’s your body? Do you want another body?” Molly’s eye glinted with excitement at the thought, whereas Victor looked less than pleased, “imagine I’m shrugging again. To all your questions. I just… I need time to think on it. Just, keep this a secret, please?”

 

Molly nodded, “only if you let me style your hair, I’ve always wanted those barbie heads to style hair.” Cringing, Victor wasn’t so happy to hear the idea but nevertheless nodded, “no crazy hairdos?”

 

Molly nodded, “no crazy hairdos, promise!”

 

Unable to refuse (have you seen Molly with a pout? Impossible to say ‘no’ to), the cyborg head smiled, “alright.”

 

* * *

 

 

Gert was _pissed._ And confused. Over Karolina and Molly ( _How can they be happy_ ), over Chase, and where the _hell_ is Nico.

 

Huffing, Gert stormed into the kitchen, “Chase, I need the keys- Oh.” Turns out, Chase left the house to god knows where, along with any chance of Gert getting away from all of this. Well, at least Old Lace is enjoying her cat mix (even if her eyeing of the cats is a little concerning), but that leaves her with Molly’s grandmother. She sighed before glancing at the scientist, who merely smiled back.

 

“Chase told me how he brought you back to the present.”

 

 _Oh god damn it._ Gert didn’t want to hear this, not from some old lady that has not a clue about the whole story. “How indiscreet of him” Gert didn’t want to talk about it, but the older woman insisted, “I’ve met your parents many a times, before my children cut me out of their lives. I insisted that Pride was no good for them, but… well, they weren’t children anymore, were they, Gert? By the way, how are you adjusting to the present? I’m curious to know if you have trouble associating, given that you can from the past?”

 

 _Gee, thanks for noticing._ Giving a thin, forced smile, Gert lied,“fine, I’m adjusting just fine, thanks.” The purple haired girl felt uncomfortable in this situation, well just the whole thing itself was uncomfortable to deal with, and talking to Doctor Hayes didn’t help either. If anything, it made Gert want to grab Molly and run out the door, except she has no reason to. Maybe it’s just her sixth sense tingling, her adults-are-untrustworthy sixth sense.

 

“You know, Molly talked about you guys all the time, you especially. You all were like brothers and sisters to her.” That hurt, kind of. _If Molly thought we were family then she’d_ \- no, that’s unfair to her, Gert knew that. None of it was her fault, none of this was anyone’s fault. Gert sighed, tired and pinched the bridge of her nose, “I get it, this isn’t Molly’s fault, you don’t have to baby me, you’re not even my grandmother.” That was meant to make Doctor Hayes offended, instead, she smiled, the smile of someone who understood, someone who was family, and said, “any family of molly’s is my family. I may not be your grandmother, but that doesn’t stop me from caring.”

 

 _God Damn it, Molly_.

 

Hook, line, and sinker. For the rest of the evening, Gert sat and watched as Chase and Old Lace played games with Molly, filled with laughter and flying popcorn. It was a scene of pure domesticated bliss.

 

And that terrified Gert.

 

When it came time to leave (with Molly tearfully demanding that they be there for her next soccer game ( _“I’m going to be a soccer player when I grow up!”_ )), Chase took one look at her and frowned, “Gert? What’s wrong? We gotta go.” God, the look on Chase’s face, it made it hard for purple haired teen to tell him what she planned to do.

 

“Actually, Chase… I’m staying here.”

 

Gert saw the look of realization dawn on his face, to the lights dimming in his eye, the curl of his lips as he struggled to come to terms with it. A moment passed before a pained, “Okay” left his lips as he turned, hopped in his van, hesitating, as if he was waiting for Gert to change her mind. When she didn’t budge, he simply nodded, waved goodbye, and drove off.

 

Gert, in that moment, wondered if she made the right choice.

 

* * *

 

 

“... third floor, last door to the left, huh?”

 

The elevator door opened to the third floor, and Karolina stepped out, nervously fiddling with her bracelets. She didn’t know if anybody was at the apartment, judging by a lack of mail in the mailbox (she took a peek, totally didn’t check every inch of the dusty box), but she had to know. After the gang, or what was left of it, showed up at her dorm, the questions ran in her head nonstop and she need to know the answers. Assuming she’ll even get any in the first place, considering how long it’s been since they last saw each other.

 

_Maybe I’ll get lucky and Nico’s home right now and she’s still willing to talk to me. Is it too creepy, for me to show up at her apartment like this? Is my outfit appropriate? God, I wonder what she looks like now? Did she cut her hair? Did her sense of style change? Her goth look was great though._

 

Stopping in front of the door, Karolina took a deep breath, and knocked on the door. When no one answered, she knocked again, and knocked a third time after five minutes. At that point, Karolina, disappointed, knew Nico wasn’t home. She had came looking for answers, and all that was here was silence. She should’ve known from the beginning that that was all that was left.

 

 _Why did I even think this was a good idea in the first place?_ Leaning against the wall, Karolina sighed, trying to gather her feelings and thoughts together, with tears of frustration stinging her blue eyes.

 

“Karolina?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooooh, leaving you on a cliffhanger, who do you guys think saw Karolina? Chase? Someone else? Maybe... Nico?!
> 
> Feel free to debate this down in the comments, I'm curious to see what you all think!
> 
> Also, say hi to Molly and Victor! :D


	3. We’ve Come a Long Way (But Still Not Far Enough)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor wants Chase to shut up.
> 
> Karolina wants answers.
> 
> Molly doesn't want Gert to change.
> 
> Chase... well, Chase has no idea what's going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, new week, new chapter! Tomorrow's the first day of April, so let's end March off with a chapter of this hot mess! If you guys like this schedule, I may keep it to one chapter every Saturday or Sunday. Let me know in the comments!
> 
> shoutout to Luisfer this week! Been with me since the first chapter and is always so fast to comment, a loyal reader to the last! I hope you stay with me till the end of the series, my friend!

“Karolina?”

 

Upon hearing her name, Karolina straightened herself, turning to face the person who uttered her name, but the person standing in front of her was not Nico, not even Chase. No, this woman was short, with a somewhat prominent hunchback, and wispy white hair tied up in a tight bun. Her fair skinned face was wrinkled, many of them being laugh lines, the mark of someone who’s lived a good life. Her eyes were a warm chocolate, almost black, painfully reminded Karolina of someone else’s eyes, and a gentle but inquisitive smile graced the old lady’s wrinkled face. Dress in a light pink dress with white floral patterns and sandals, in one hand were a set of keys and a bag of what looked to be groceries. In the other was a bundle of mail, which Karolina noticed had all different kinds of names written on them. The old lady’s smile dimmed before asking, “are you not Karolina Dean? Oh, I’m terribly sorry dearie, I don’t have my glasses on and I can’t see too well without them. But you sure look like her, all blonde and pretty, like Nico said. Excuse me then, dearie.” The old lady nodded at her before turning to leave, snapping Karolina out of her trance.

 

_Nico…_

 

At the mention of her friend, Karolina ran up to the old lady, “you know Nico? Please, I’m her friend Karolina, do you know where she is? How has she been?” Surprised, the white haired woman dropped her keys, luckily caught by Karolina. Handing it back to their owner, Karolina questions her, “if you don’t mind me asking, miss…”

 

“Oh, just Irene is fine, you make me feel so old. I’ll have you know I still have a young spirit!” Smiling at the woman’s humor, Karolina continues, “Irene, as I was saying, how do you know Nico?” Irene, gently cradling her things, walked towards Nico’s apartment door, “well, dear, I make a habit of knowing who’s living in my apartment, Nico was one of the newer ones and tightly private. Girl was never seen socializing with any of the tenants or really leaving her apartment, though she does keep it impeccably clean. But when she ha a little too much to drink… well, she spoke of her friends often.” Eyeing Karolina to make her point, Irene turned to the door, fumbling around with her keys, “Nico’s not here, as you probably know, she won’t be back for another month or so. Would you like to come in, though? Nico said to let her friends in when they come over and I was actually coming by to water her flowers, poor things must be dry as a desert!”

 

Laughing, Karolina followed Irene into the apartment, fearful to what she may find in the apartment. As proof to the landlady’s words, the apartment was spotless, everything was in a specific place, though some items on the shelves were quite dusty. Nothing seemed unusual or out of place. The kitchen was spotless, the flowers by the windows were wilted, some dried and dead, though the others were still beautiful and vibrant. Karolina walked around the apartment, and stopped at some picture frames by the shelf, or rather the lack thereof.

 

The shelf was dusty, and the few pictures that were there, the blonde didn’t recognize the person with Nico. Picking up one of the frames, Karolina noted how different Nico looked. For one, it looked like Nico grew taller, if that was even possible (the blonde reckon that they were probably the same height now, Karolina being taller but a few inches, maybe one or two at the most). The once-long hair was cut short, with bangs that hangs over her eyes, almost covering the eyes, styled almost boyishly, but not too much. The soft, teenage face was gone, replaced with a sharp face with high cheekbones, a strong jaw, and a small, crooked smile. Her brown eyes seemed to be flecked with gold, sharp and cold, yet crazed and hungry (though in the photo, it was dimmed out by amusement). Those eyes were eyes she had seen before, like their parents’ eyes, and that terrified Karolina, to see her friend with the same eyes.

 

 _At least her style hasn’t changed._ Indeed, the Japanese-American was still dressed in black, a relatively business casual outfit of crisp black button up, with the top button unbuttoned and the sleeves rolled up, dark ripped jeans, and black boots (was that a tattoo Karolina sees on her arm? Yep, definitely a tattoo), a black coat draped over her forearm. Nico looked good, which put Karolina at ease. After Chase had refused to talk about her, she had grown increasingly nervous about the goth. The person next to her though, the woman Nico had her arm around, she did not recognize, shorter than Nico by about a head, with equally dark hair, bright eyes and smile, dressed in white, complementing Nico’s black ensemble. Taking the frame to the kitchen where Irene was setting everything down and starting to water the plants in the kitchen, Karolina gave the picture to Irene, “do you recognize this person next to Nico, Irene?”

 

The elderly woman took the frame, putting her glasses on, “Oh! Yuriko! Yes, bless her heart, that girl is probably the only reason why Nico looked so happy back then. Let’s see… this was… I think a year ago? Yes, that sounds about right. Good girl, she was, so kind and helpful, a really good cook too!”

 

Karolina winced, her heart heavy. She didn’t know Nico had found someone close to her heart, judging from how many picture of the woman she had (which, admittedly was still not a lot), the blonde felt something tug at her, but for the moment, chose to ignore it. “Were they… close? Like relationship-wise?” She didn’t want to sound nosy, but she  _was_ curious.

 

“Oh heavens, they were very close but not in the way you were thinking, my dear,” Irene’s eyes twinkled with mischievous intent, making Karolina blush. Irene moved about the apartment, gesturing Karolina to sit, “Nico never seemed to be too interested in finding someone per say, but I would like to think that if Yuriko was still alive, they could’ve been more. But, I’m just a old lady, what would I know, yes?”

 

_Was? Is-_

 

 _"_ I know what you are going to ask, and yes, Yuriko passed away a ways ago, and Nico… was never the same again. Smiled a lot less, went out  _a lot_  more, came back with bloody knuckles sometimes too. I insisted that she go see a therapist, but she always said no, always said she was fine, but everyone knew she wasn't just by looking at her,” Irene sighed, stopping at the purple hyacinth flowers, “Yuriko was special to Nico, and to lose her, I can’t even begin to tell you what that meant.”

 

Karolina swallowed the lump in her throat, trying to keep her tears in check. To think, Nico losing someone so important, and bottling it all up because there was no one to talk to about it, how much of a Nico thing to do, the blonde didn’t know what to think or feel. It wasn't pity Karolina felt, god knows she and all the Runaways knows how Nico felt, especially Chase, but this was just too much for the blonde. A wrinkled hand patted her back, Irene whispering words of comfort as she let her tears fall. The two women stayed like that until Karolina had no more tears left to cry, reduced to sniffles. All the while, Irene sat by her, rubbing circles on her back and waiting for her to dry her eyes.

 

“Tell me about her.”

 

Turning to the blonde, Irene raised her white brows, “Nico and Yuriko? I don’t know how much help I can be, she never told me much.” Nodding in affirmation, Karolina wiped her cheeks, “please.” Smiling, the elderly woman stood up and gestured towards the flower, “first, the plants. I’ll tell you all I can. Nico spoke of you quite often, dearie.”

 

Picking up the watering can, Irene and Karolina walked towards the zinnia.

 

“Now, how about we start with…”

 

 

* * *

 

Molly hated this.

 

Sure, having Gert around was nice and all, ‘cuz she’s now her sister-ish, but you know what not fun?

 

When all Gert does is mope.

 

Like, Molly gets it, she misses Chase and everyone else, she’s probably regretting her decision, but still! A girl needs a fun older sister, right?

 

And sure, playing with the Old Lace is fun and all, but there's only so many punctured soccer balls Molly can take. The dinosaur's lucky she's cute.

 

PLUS, between her grandmother taking sample of Gert’s blood and Gert herself not interested in doing anything, Molly has had enough. At this point, Molly's starting to think that Gert’s only here for the powers, and Molly _really_ doesn’t want Gert to have purple eyes, even if it’ll match her hair. Gert’s already wonderful and perfect the way she is!

 

So when Molly first told Gert about the telepathic cats and the plan to escape, it was no wonder Gert was both nervous and skeptical. After all, Gert stayed to feel like she was having a family again, even if she still didn’t trust Dr.Hayes (she knew something about her rubbed Gert the wrong way!). But back to the issue at hand, two giant bags to everything they think they will need, one open window, and Rufus, their newly obtained pet, standing guard with Old Lace. The girls look at each other, Molly more teary eyed than Gert, before squeezing out the bedroom window, Molly leaving first. With only half of her body out the window, Rufus’s hissing alerts them of Dr.Hayes and before they knew it, a swarm of cats burst into Molly’s room, their shepherd in the middle.

 

“I’m disappointed in you girls. After everything I’ve done, this is how you repay me? I’m especially hurt because you're doing it, Molly. Family don’t do this to one another. And Gert, I'm shocked you're following my wayward granddaughter. I could’ve made you extraordinary, had you not followed Molly.”

 

Gert glared at the scientist, “what, extraordinary like your cats? Yeah, no thanks, I don’t want to know what goes on in your head, or anyone’s head as a matter of fact. Ever heard of privacy, ‘cuz that’s a thing in the twenty-first century.” Molly gulped, stepping back into the room, “grandma…”

 

“Don’t ‘grandma’ me, young lady! I gave you a home, a family, and  _Gert_! I've the one protecting you after your little fiasco with your friends! Your friends have done nothing but cause mayhem and destruction where they went, I'll be damned if I let you go back to that lifestyle again.”

 

Suddenly a crash echoed in the house, followed by Rufus’s happy yowls, and in, bursts Chase with Victor (strapped to his backpack), equipped with his trusty fistigons, along with a glowing Karolina flying in from the open window.

 

“ _we’re_ Molly's family, you crazy scientist! And we're not leaving without here!”

 

* * *

 

 

**Several hours ago…**

 

Victor has had enough.

 

Enough of playing dead, enough of being hauled around like a trophy, and most importantly, enough of Chase, because the guy just doesn’t  _s_ _hut up_. On top of that, Victor feels like his insides are being fried to bits with the way Chase is handling him. God, the cyborg just wants to tell the blonde man to  _shut up_.

 

And he did just that. “ _FOR GOD’S SAKE, SHUT UP!”_ Chase was clearly taking back at the outburst, now won’t stop yelling on the top of his lungs about how he fixed Victor (he didn’t, but whatever, at this point Victor doesn’t care anymore). He sorely missed having a body in this moment, that way he can slap Chase to get him to pay attention.

 

“Chase! Will you shut up and listen to me! Molly and Gert are in danger! I don’t know what that old lady wants, but I can tell that it’s not good!”

 

Chase snapped to attention, “what are you talking about? Dr.Hayes’s a nice lady.”

 

“That’s what I’m saying! She’s a little too nice, plus… she plucked a strand of my hair. We already know she gave Molly’s parents her powers, what if she’s doing more than that now? Come on, Chase, you have to trust me on this.”

 

Grabbing the fistigons, Chase looked at the cyborg, “if you’re sure, then we need to move now! C’mon, Vic!” Grabbing the head, Chase jumped into the van and sped out of the hostel, in the opposite direction of Molly’s house, baffling Victor. Chase, however, looked confident in the direction, baffling the cyborg even more.

 

“Chase! Where are you going! Molly’s house is the other way!”

 

The driver grinned, “we’re going to Nico’s place, she said and I quote, ‘if anything happens to Molly involving an adult, there are things here you need to take.’ We’re going to go get them!”

 

_Wait, what?_

 

Victor has no idea what Chase was talking about, but hey, he’s a head right now, he can’t do much.

 

Now, if only Chase would stop driving so fast, that would be greatly appreciated (he’s been thrown around like a ragdoll for the past hour, and the dizziness is starting to make him sick.)

 

Parking the van haphazardly, Chase, strapping Victor to his bag, ran up the stairs to Nico’s apartment, only to find Karolina and Irene, the landlady that makes the most delicious pancakes, walking out of the apartment, seemingly in a deep conversation. The timing couldn’t have been anymore perfect. Almost barreling into the women, Chase yelled, “Karo! Thank god you’re here! Quick, I need you help! Oh, hello Irene. Sorry, it’s been hectic these past few weeks, but I’ll come back soon for your pancakes, I promise!”

 

Irene merely smiled, and gently smacked Chase’s cheek like a grandmother would, “hello, Chase dear, don't worry about the pancakes, I know you have a lot on your plate as it is. Here to get your tools? Nico left them by the sofa, alrighty? Karolina dear, it was lovely talking to you, you should stop by with Chase for pancakes next time, yes? I make quite delicious ones, Chase can testify to it. Now go with Chase, the poor man is about lose his breath.” Laughing, the two blondes waved goodbye to the elderly woman before stepping back into Nico’s apartment.

 

Karolina turned to Chase, “so, what’s wrong?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Setting up for the battle against Dr.Hayes in the next chapter, who's ready to see that? I'm excited to write it and add my own twist to it!
> 
> Also, I put a little subtle message into the placement of where the flowers are mentioned. I'll leave it up to you guys to decode it, yes? :D


	4. Lights Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Four against one crazy scientist and a whole lot of cats. Chase didn’t like those odds, but hey, they’ve been through worse. Besides they’re just cats, what the worst that can happen?
> 
> A lot apparently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, another chapter coming in hot!
> 
> This weeks been crazy for me, with the non-stop editing and writing, but hopefully this chapter lived up to the week's anticipation! Last week I said that there was a subtle message within the chapter regarding the flowers, seeing as I have kept my mouth shut about it for a week, I will reveal it today!
> 
> The flowers each have a special meaning in he flower language and I used those to express the emotions of Nico and Karolina respectively. Purple hyacinth flowers represent royalty, forgiveness, and sorrow, used to express Nico's grief over the losing her friend (or were they *wink wink*) Yuriko, whose cause of death I have still yet to reveal, and the lose of her friends, of course not literally but emotionally and spiritually. The other flower mentioned, the zinnia, holds the meaning of absent friend, affection,   
> and remembrance, all of which I think are pretty self-explanatory in relation to Karolina missing Nico very much but still thinking of her. I do want to give a shoutout to rulolarata for pointing out some key details that I missed with doing m research that I will use in later chapters. Well done!
> 
> This week's other shoutout goes to robthestars and their first fic 'In the Way You Give and Take'! It's a Deanoru hero/villian au and I personally think it's a great concept. Give some love to their first fic!

Four against one crazy scientist and a whole lot of cats. Chase didn’t like those odds, but hey, they’ve been through worse. Besides they’re just cats, what the worst that can happen?

A lot apparently.

The cats hissed and pounced, sinking their teeth and claws into flesh, clothes, anything that they can make contact with. Karolina attempted to fly above the telepathic felines to avoid their sharp fangs and claws, but a few still managed to scratch her arms and legs, making the glowing girl hiss in pain. Gert tried to shake the cats that have already latched onto her hoodie, but there were far too many for her to handle, even with Molly helping by throwing a few off. Chase grabbed a few cats with his fistigons, keeping his arms close to his body in an attempt to shield Victor, who was sporting several scratches already, and prepared to fire at them when Molly cried out, “Chase, don’t hurt my grandma or the cats! That goes for you too, Karolina!” More cats were swarming into the room, overwhelming the teens. They were getting bit and scratched, the room completely taken over by all the cats, making it impossible to do anything but simply shake and throw off as many as they could, slowly backing up as the felines prowled closer.

Chase looked at the bed and suddenly had an idea, turning to Molly, “Molly, I got an idea! Get the bed, keep the cats in one place! I’ll get the wardrobe!” Nodding, the girl picked up the furniture with a grunt and slammed it into the middle of the room, turning it onto its side, the pillows and blankets falling off and hitting some of the cats, disorienting them. Meanwhile, Chase pushed the wardrobe to the bed, face red with effort. Gert and Karolina quickly opened the wardrobe and pulled out as many articles of clothing as they can, throwing it over the bed, hoping to cover a few felines. Several yowls and screeches answered them, confirming that the impromptu plan had worked. Molly looked around their half of the room, trying to find more things to push when Dr.Hayes yelled from across the room, “Molly! This is ridiculous! Stop this nonsense immediately, I’m trying to protect you, not hurt you.” Pressing her lips together, Molly shook her head, picking up her vanity to reinforce the makeshift barrier, “I’m really sorry grandma.” Dr.Hayes growled in frustration, “then you leave me no choice.” A hiss echoed in the room and not a moment later, Chase, Gert, and Karolina fell to the floor, clutching their heads and crying out in pain. Running up to them, Molly tried to ask them what was wrong, but the trio were far too in pain to answer her.

“My cats have their claws in your friends’s minds. Molly, I’m begging you, I don’t want to hurt your friends-”

“You’re hurting them right now! You’re hurting  _ Gert! _ Stop it, grandma!” Distressed and out of options, Molly jumped over the bed, making sure to not step on any of the cats. Looking around, she could see that most of the cats were still stuck underneath fabric with only a few sinking their mental claws into her friends. Frantic, Molly picked up the cats and shook them, making them dizzy, “sorry Mr.Twinkles, but you have to let my friends go!” Dr.Hayes picked up one of the cats and hissed at it, prompting it to go down the stairs, unbeknownst to Molly, who was still shaking the cats.

The scientist grabbed Molly’s arm, stopping her from shaking her pets, “Molly, please, I’m doing this for your own good. You have to trust me!” Dr.Hayes glanced back to the bedroom entrance, noting the purple eyes of her cat and a head of brown hair. It was a risky move because  _ she’s  _ not ready yet, but if it’ll keep Molly here, then the scientist will have no choice. Her granddaughter, however, had different plans in mind.

Ripping her arm out of her grandmother’s hand, the thirteen year old took a step back away from the elderly woman, only to trip on one of the cats burrowing their way out of the blanket, who hissed when the heel of Molly foot pressed itself against the feline’s body. Slamming into the bed, Molly, the wind knocked out of her, struggled to stand up, the cats taking this opportunity to pile themselves on top of her, keeping her immobile. Suddenly, a yell was heard from the other side of the room before the head of one Victor Mancha was thrown on top of the cat pile, scattering them in an attempt to dodge the head, while an astonished Dr.Hayes took a step back, nearly stepping on her fleeing pets. Victor glared at the remaining cats before rolling his eyes as far back as possible to look at Molly, “are you alright,  _ mija _ ? Chase thought it was a good idea to use my head as a football.” Hugging the cyborg, Molly laughed as she stood up, leaning against the bed, tears of joy stinging her eyes.

Having recovered from the mental assault, Karolina hovered in the air, eyes concentrated on the cats, while Chase jumped over the bed and Gert, peeking out from the other side, held up a soccer ball threateningly. The sight of her friends, her  _ family _ , delighted Molly unbelievably, bringing even more tears to her eyes.

“Molly? Are you Molly?”

_ Oh… Oh no. _

A woman leaned against the door frame, eyes wandering from one shocked Runaway to another, each time asking if they were Molly. Dr.Hayes stepped closer to the woman, gently guiding her into the room. There was no mistake, those eyes, the hair, the  _ face _ , that was Alice Hayes.

Molly’s mother.

“No way…” “You actually  _ cloned  _ Molly’s mom?!”

Gert looked horrified and outraged at the scene in from of her, where everyone else was merely stunned into silence, particularly Molly, whose face had turned white as a sheet. She had no idea that her own grandmother had done this and, looking at the person in front of her right now, she almost wished it wasn’t true.

But the scientist wasn’t deterred by the outburst, glaring irritably at the children, “I’m a  _ scientist _ . This is what I do. It’s because of the Pride that my beloved children were killed, I was lucky I had them categorized, they would’ve been ready with a few more adjustments, had none of this”, gesturing to the mess in the bedroom, “happened. None of you have any right to lecture me on what’s right and what’s wrong, everything I done, every sacrifice I’ve made, has been for my family. There’s no length I would not go to protect them.”

“Molly?”

This time, the clone was staring at Molly herself, startling the girl in question. The creator of the clone gently hushed Alice before turning to Molly, eyes gentle, “please Molly, we can be a family again if you stay. Just think about it, I can bring your parents back, you can have them in your life again.” Molly shook her head, tears running down her face. She stepped closer to Chase, tugging at his shirt. Chase immediately stood in front of Molly, blocking her from Alice’s view, while Gert took Victor from Molly, whispering words of comfort to the petrified girl.

_ No… _

Biting her lips, Molly turned to Gert, sniffling, “can we go now? Please?” Climbing over the bed, Molly hopped out of the window followed by Gert, holding Victor tight, leaving Chase and Karolina in the bedroom. Raising his fists, Chase took a step back just as the cats lunged for him, scratching his leg. Karolina flew around the room, attempting to use her light to blind the cats, to some success.

Dr.Hayes yelled in frustration, “don’t let them escape!” Alice snapped her head up and screamed, brightening the room up in purple lights. Chase, feeling claws dig into his mind, screamed as he fell to the floor. Alarmed by her friend’s pain, Karolina blasts the bed and wardrobe with a concentrated beam, destroying it and sending debris everywhere. The force of the blast knocked both the clone and her maker into the nearby wall, knocking them unconscious, while the cats fled the room to dodge all the splinters and debris flying around. Taking this opportunity, Karolina helped Chase up as they jump out of the window, escaping the Hayes household.

##    
  


Standing the the backyard of the house, Molly was full on sobbing into Gert’s shoulder, Old Lace and Rufus curled around her protectively.. Karolina set Chase down, resting his body against Old Lace before sitting down on the grass. The group tried to make sense what they had just witnessed as they listened to Molly’s cries die down into sniffles, hands clutched in Gert’s shirt, Old Lace and Rufus purring in comfort.

Eventually, Victor broke the silence, “guys, we can’t leave Dr.Hayes here. What she did, what she knows,  it's dangerous to leave her, with all of her experiments. You know we what need to do.” Gert snapped at Victor, “and what’s that, Victor? Better yet, don’t say anything at all. Molly’s been through enough for today. In fact, all of us have had a rough night.”

Chase rubbed his temple, trying to ignore his throbbing head, “no, Victor is right. If she comes after us, she’ll put all of us in danger.” Karolina turned to look at Chase, “I could call Julie, get the Avengers down here…”

“No.” “Molly-”

“ _ NO. _ ”

Chase sighed, “we can’t just leave her here, she’s a danger to all of us. Please, Molly.” But the girl in question only shook her head, burying her face into Gert’s neck, causing Gert to glare at Chase. If looks could kill, Chase would be dead twice over. Karolina stood up and patted Molly’s back, “how about we just call Julie tomorrow and tell her what happened here, I’m sure keeping it a secret for one night isn't going to hurt anybody. We’ll let her know tomorrow, how about that?” Molly peeked up from Gert’s neck, “you promise?”

“I promise.”

Nodding, Molly moved to hug Karolina, who returned the gesture. Using Old Lace as a crutch, Chase stood up, still recovering from the telepathic attacks, gestured towards the van, “All in favor of going home?” At everyone’s agreement, they hobbled back to the van and drove off, Karolina on the phone, quietly talking to the person on the other side. Everything had finally calmed down. The ride home was quiet, music from the radio playing quietly in the background.

Until Gert realized something as the Runaways piled into the hostel, settling themselves on the couches.

“Wait, Molly’s basically a runaway now, she can’t go to school anymore!”

Molly’s face paled the second time for the night. She  _ loves  _ school, and now… she won’t be able to, not with her running away from home. Molly fell back on the couch with a groan, contemplating all the things she’s going to miss now that she won’t be going back to school.  _ Soccer, being in the play, playing the tuba _ .

Worst. Night. Ever

Chase, however, grinned and ran to his room, returning with a suspicious black suitcase, “don’t worry Molly, Nico said that one of these… um… pages will take care of that! I think, I actually forgot a lot of it, but I’m sure she’s got something.” Opening the suitcase filled with scrolls, each one labeled in Nico’s messy yet elegant script, much to everyone's confusion. The very last scroll, right next to a small vial of some kind of purple powder, was labeled ‘legal adoption’.

“Ah ha! I knew Nico had something in here!” Pulling out the scroll, Chase unraveled the scroll, revealing the intricate details drawn on the paper and a small folded paper that said, ‘For Chase. Follow these instructions. They’re written VERY clearly.’ The man grumbled as he took the paper and unfolded it, “I can follow instructions, Nico. Let’s see… it says to put my blood here and Molly’s blood here,” pointing to the smaller circle and the largest circle in the middle of everything, “and then take a pinch of the powder, and just say, ‘legal adoption’. Okay, simple enough. Come on, Molly.” Pulling out pocket knife from the suitcase, Chase nicked his and Molly’s fingers, pressing the wound against the paper. Uncapping the vial, Chase took a pinch of it and dusted it around the paper. He looked at Molly, “you ready, Mols?” The girl sighed and nodded at the man who will soon to be her new father. 

_ Oh, that sounds weird.  _ Molly cringed at the thought.  _ I think I'll stick to Chase _

Chase took a deep breath and yelled, “ **legal adoption!** ” The writing on the scroll glowed purple before burning away, Molly herself glowing purple for a moment before the glow faded away, leaving some specks of purple dust in the air. Gert checked Molly, making sure nothing was wrong, “do you feel any different?”

Shaking herself off, Molly touched her face, “I feel… totally legal and loved. The spell must’ve worked!” Jumping around happily for a second and then letting out a big yawn, Molly turned to drag her exhausted body up the stairs, “Chase, where’s my room? I wanna sleep.”

“Second to last door on your left Mols, Gert, your room is right next to Molly’s, unless…”

Gert walked past him, patting him on the shoulder, “thanks, Chase, but I think I’ll stay down here for a little while.”

Disappointed but understanding nevertheless, Chase picked up Victor, much to Rufus’s protest, and walked up the stairs, leaving Karolina, Gert and Old Lace downstairs.

“Looks like someone’s in the doghouse.”

“Shut up.”

________________________________________

A speck of purple dust floated in the air before being caught in a black clothed hand, crushing it.

“Looks like it worked…”

The figure stood in the backyard of the Hayes household before disintegrating into the ground, the imprint on the grass as only indication that someone was there.

**Back in Molly’s room**

A black goo bubbled on the floor, slowly rising before the shape of arms and legs came to be, the goo turning into swirling darkness that cloaked the figure in even more black, dripping a tar-like substance on into the figure’s shadow. From the mass of black came a hooded figure with glowing golden eyes and a white and black mask covering the face. The mask was very intricate, black lines from the eye socket resembling tear tracks and angry lines around the face gave the appearance of a demon, red designs above the eye socket loosely shaped into two birds, forming a Cerberus, counting the head of the figure themself.  _ Cerberus, the guard dog of Death _ . The centerpiece of the mask, however, was the smile. Lined with black, the smile painted on the mask showed the teeth and the curve of the smile met up with the tear lines, representing a demonic clown face. The outfit and the mask created the illusion of death, scaring a few of the cats that remained in the room, huddled protectively over their owner. The figure in black stepped closer to the unconscious women in the closer, ignoring the hisses and the screeches of the few brave cats that were still in the room, stopping right in from of them.

The unconscious scientist stirred, opening her eyes and looking up. When her eyes made contact with the golden eyes of the stranger, they widened before narrowing, glaring at the intruder, “ _ you.  _ How dare you break into my home.”

The stranger cocked the head to the side, “The door was left unlocked anyway. Of course, that’s not why I’m here. Let me cut to the chase: I’m quite disappointed, Doctor _. _ ”

Leaning up against the wall, Dr.Hayes dares to look the stranger in the eyes, not at all phased by the stare, “I did what I had to do. Bringing back my children, what did you expect of me, I’m a scientist and the Pride robbed me of my work! You don’t get to lecture me, how many times have you tried to bring people back from the dead? Far more than I have, that’s for sure,  _ Nyx _ !”

Golden eyes narrowed in anger, “don’t compare me to you. The difference you and I share is that I simply  _ attempted. You  _ broke the balance of life and death when you decide to clone Alice. You are an exceptional scientist, but your ambition knows no limit. I can no longer ignore the threat you pose, starting with that  _ thing. _ ” Pointing towards Alice, the cloned Hayes woman was suddenly thrown forward into the stranger-Nyx-‘s open hand,  which closed around her neck, awakening Alice, who struggled to breath under Nyx’s crushing grip.

Dr.Hayes tried to stop Nyx, but when she took a step forward, black chains wrapped around her, restricting her movement, forcing her to helplessly watch as Nyx’s hand slowly grew tighter around Alice’s neck. A snap reverberates in the destroyed bedroom before the lifeless body of her daughter fell to the floor, the scientist’s eyes widened, watching her greatest creation be destroyed in a matter of seconds.

The bound scientist spat at Nyx, “NO! How dare you! All the years, all the work I’ve put into this, wasted because of YOU! All I wanted to do was to rebuild my family, and you destroyed it! What right did you have to do that? NONE! You lecture me on boundaries and limits, yet you seem to forget your own boundaries. Or are you so arrogant that you don’t have boundaries for yourself?” Enraged and distraught, Dr.Hayes continued to scream at Nyx, eyes burning death into them.

Nyx merely sighed and grabbed hold of the scientist’s head, hand covering her face, leaving her struggling against the iron grip. Gold eyes stared, unimpressed, “You sure talk quite a lot. Well, to answer your question, unlike you, doctor, I already have surpassed my limits. You, however, simply went too far. Normally I wouldn't care, but even I have moral. Anyways, you have outlived your usefulness, and the Avengers will be on their way to take you into custody. I'll have to shut you up to keep you from spilling your secrets and mine, and I have just the spell.”

“No.  _ NO! _ Damn you! You already destroyed my home, my creation, now you want to silence me?! Then kill me already then, you damned monster!”

“Hmph. No one said I’ll kill you, only to silence you.”

Dr.Hayes’s eyes widened, realizing what Nyx meant, as she struggled fruitlessly to escape. Nyx smirked from underneath their mask.

“Goodbye, Doctor. Now…  **Forget.** ”

##    
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooo, what a roller coaster of a chapter! Just who is Nyx, what is their goal, and will we be seeing more of them?
> 
> Who knows!
> 
> Also, side note: I did make a design of Nyx's mask on my instagram (here's the link: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv1w_AMA-AH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link) The design may not be final but this is the general idea.
> 
> I think I did give a hint as to who Nyx could be, but I do want to know your thoughts and opinions on this chapter!
> 
> Next week's chapter will be.... Abigail, Doombot, and of course, the introduction to Karolina's girlfriend, Julie Powers!


	5. Feathers from the Same Bird

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Molly loves her BFF, Abby.
> 
>  
> 
> But who knew Abigail was keeping such a sweet secret?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New week, new chapter, as promised! This week we got: Abigail and her magic cupcake, Karolina's girlfriend Julie Powers, and unfortunately, a cameo from our wonderful Doombot (he was far too expensive to hire full time LOL)
> 
> This week's shout out goes to 88ray_ray88's fic, "for what it's worth (i still love you)", because we all love a fake dating AU.
> 
> I hope this chapter was worth the wait!
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> (Also, did anyone see the Runaways Clexacon panel? Iconic.)

“Guys, I’m gonna be late to school!”

 

Karolina groaned from her makeshift bed, feeling a migraine setting in and Molly’s yelling only served to make it worse. Sneaking a glance at the girl, Karolina noted that Molly had her school bag on.

 

_ Oh yeah, she needs to go to school, I forgot about that. Wait, what time is it? _

 

Glancing at her phone, Karolina made a noise of annoyance, flopping back onto the seat of the couch.  _ Great, missed my morning classes.  _ Stretching her arms above her head, the college student sat up once more, petting Rufus as the cat crawled onto her lap. Karolina looked at Molly, “you sure you’re ready to go back to school? You know we still don’t know if the spell worked.”

 

Molly gaped at Karolina, “but I’ve already missed three days! _ Three  _ whole days! I have soccer practice and tuba and the play! I have to go to school!” Just as Molly finished listing off what she missed about school, Chase skips down the stairs, grinning ear to ear and tie completely done wrong, “morning, Mols. Look like you’re ready for school, yeah?” Molly turned to Chase, nodding enthusiastically but cringed seeing Chase’s tie, “that’s done so wrong. Where you going dressed like that by the way, Chase? Oh, there’s parent teacher conference tonight so you have to come. Also, who’s driving me to school? Do I get lunch? Do you think the spell worked? I mean I feel legal, but who knows right?” Chase undid the tie, attempting to fix it, but ultimately giving up, tossing it onto the coffee table, “I can take you to school, but someone else will need to pick you up. Anyone know how to tie this before I go without it?” Karolina nodded at Molly, telling her that she can pick her up as Gert handed Molly her lunchbox, all the while telling her to not expect lunch to be too great (“there wasn’t much in the fridge”) and helping Chase with his tie.

 

Molly waved goodbye to everyone as she followed Chase out the door. Victor looked at Karolina and Gert, “anyone know how to cut hair? Mine’s been growing out of control and Rufus has been using it as a toy, which I don’t enjoy all to much.” Gert huffed in amusement before taking Victor to her room, promising a haircut. Before she left Karolina, she turned to her, “what are you going to do, K? Don’t you have class to go to too?”

 

Karolina shrugged, standing up to stretch her legs, “I’ve already missed two classes, might as well make my morning out of it. I’m going to get breakfast, you want anything?” When Gert shook her head no, Karolina nodded at her and walked out to her car, driving out of the hostel and into the city. She didn’t notice her phone lighting up with text messages.

 

__________________________________________________________

 

“You sure you know what you’re doing, Gert?”

 

“I’ve been cutting my hair since I was fifteen. We just spent an hour watching YouTube videos. Trust me I know what I’m doing.”

 

It wasn’t that Victor didn’t trust Gert, he just… didn’t trust her cutting his hair. What if she cuts too much, or she cuts it unevenly? Victor will have to live with it for at least a year before it grows back to normal.

 

_ God, Chase and Molly will make sure he never forgets if Gert messes it up. _

 

_ “ _ Stop thinking. I can literally hear your thoughts. Relax, I’m not going to screw this up, promise.” Chase looked apologetic, staring into the mirror, “sorry, it’s just that… my hair’s not going to be the same if it’s messed up. But at least it’s better than being literally built to destroy humanity right? Hair can change.” Gert stopped snipping, combing the cyborg’s hair back, not amused by his attempts at humor. Frowning, Gert held up the scissors, “Victor, you know that you couldn’t have changed anything about that. It wasn’t your fault.” Seeing Victor bow his head in guilt, Gert quickly added, “luckily, you have to worry about this, as you are in hands of the best hairstylist in the area. I’ll make you look extra pretty, Vic.” Victor smiled, “thanks, Gert.”

 

“For?”

 

“For everything.”

 

Smiling, Gert ruffled the cyborg’s hair, “anytime, Vic, any time.

* * *

 

 

 

Molly loves school.

 

She loves the environment, playing soccer, and this year’s school play is Aladdin, which she’s a part of! But none of that is her favorite part.

 

Yes, her favorite part is Abigail. Her bestest friend forever.

 

Don’t get her wrong, her fellow Runaways are very close to her, but they’re more than friends to her, so they don’t count. But Abigail was different. They were the same age, are in the same classes and have a secret handshake only for BFFs. In short, Abby is special.

 

(Molly just didn’t know how special Abby really was, yet.)

 

So, when parent teacher conference rolled around and the pair are eating ice cream at the gym, as Molly and Abby were talking about growing older and becoming women and how they didn’t want to grow older, Abby dropped the bomb on the mutant. Her secret, her entire life.

 

“Wait let me get this straight, you been alive for… fifty years?... because of this cupcake? Seriously?”

 

Abby rolled her eyes, slightly offended that her best friend didn’t trust her, “of course I’m serious, Molly. With this, you can be just like me, never grow up, be thirteen forever!”

 

“where’d you even get this from? Isn’t this dangerous? What about your parents?” Molly was still skeptical and a little concerned about Abby and the cupcake, raising an eyebrow.

 

“I got it from a witch- don’t give me that look, Molly- besides getting older is dangerous! My parents are happy with me not growing up! I’m happy not growing up! We’re just at that age where we can be serious yet not serious enough! We don't have to get married, we won’t need a job, we can stay cute forever! We won’t even get our periods or cramps! Isn’t that a good life Molly?” Closing the box, Abigail shoved it at her best friend, “you don’t have to decide today, but soon you need to give me an answer. Remember,  _ you need to eat the whole thing. _ ”

 

“Abby? Molly’s dad is her to pick her up.”

 

Chase peeked into the room, blond hair tied into a ponytail with his beard starting to grow out, “hey there Mol. You ready to go? K’s bringing Julie over, remember? I could use a hand in cleaning up the hostel.”

 

Molly’s eyes lit up at the mention of Julie, momentarily forgetting about the cupcake, and jumped off the bed, putting on her shoes. Glancing back at Abby, Molly hesitated before grabbing the box with the cupcake inside, much to Abby’s delight. Finally, a friend forever, literally.

 

In the car, Molly stared at the box, debating if she should eat it or not. Chase, noticing a distinct lack of chatter from the girl, glanced at her, “you alright there, cupcake? You don’t seem to be quite excited, which considering how you were before, this is a whole 180.”

 

Molly snapped out of her daydream,“huh? Oh, sorry Chase. I’m just thinking about stuff,you know teenage angst and… stuff.” The blond man was about to probe her for more, but shrugged, keeping his mouth shut. If Molly wasn’t going to tell him, then who was he to pry into something that wasn’t his business?

 

(He’ll just ask Gert or Karolina later. It’s probably something only girls would know.)

____________________________________________________________________________

 

“I’m so happy to see you again, K. The distance was killing me!”

 

Karolina smiled, taking Julie’s bags and bringing them to her car. She was happy to see her girlfriend again and even more excited to introduce her to her family. Getting into the car, Karolina pulled out of the parking space, driving down the street in the direction of the hostel. Julie was chatting up the car the whole way, to Karolina’s amusement.

 

“I can’t wait to meet Chase and Molly and  _ Gert _ . Of course, there were some people very disappointed in Chase doing what he did, but it’s not like they could change it now. Oh! I brought something for you, you can take a look later. How much has Molly grown? It’s been ages since I saw her! How is she, by the way? She’s thirteen now right? Time sure flew by.”

 

Karolina chuckled, glancing at Julie, eyes affectionate. When the car stopped at a red light, Karolina took the opportunity to intertwine their hands together, appreciating how warm Julie’s hands were. Julie looked confused but smiled, shrugging it off, tapping on Karolina’s shoulder to go. 

 

Just as they arrived at the hostel, a crash could be heard from the inside before Chase’s body come flying out the front door, landing right in from of Karolina’s car. Chase groaned, rubbing his head, leaning against the front of the car, “goddamnit! Why is it always me?” 

 

“Chase! What’s going on?” Karolina quickly took off her bracelet, glowing in an array of red, blue, and yellow while Julie helped Chase up, glancing inside the hostel, trying to see what was going on. Shaking his head, Chase stood up and ran back into the hostel, Julie and Karolina following behind, “there’s someone here! I don’t know how they got in, but that doesn’t matter! Molly and Gert and Victor are in trouble!”

 

Quickly running (or flying, in Karolina’s and Julie’s case) back into their home, the three discover Molly on the floor, clutching her stomach, and Gert, glasses broken, leaning against the couchs, bruises dotting her body. Old Lace, however, had her jaws clenched down on the intruder’s arm, teeth sinking into flesh, blood dripping from the dinosaur’s jaws. Judging by the attempts to remove their arm from Old Lace’s grasp, it was quite painful having the sharp teeth in their flesh. Julie’s eyes widened in fear, turning to Karolina, “K, we need to call the Avengers. That’s Nyx!” Karolina turned to look at her girlfriend, “what- Julie, what’s going on?”

 

“Nyx’s a dark magic user! The level of mastery she’s shown is beyond us! We need to keep her here long enough for the Avengers to get here!”

 

“Wait, Julie!”

 

Not waiting for Karolina, Julie rushed forward, arms outstretched to grab Nyx. Just as she got close enough, the dark magic user bursted into a flock of crows, feathers falling everywhere and some of the birds scratched Julie, tearing through the sleeves of her jacket. The crows swoop to the top of the stairs, where they slowly turned into a tar-like substance that formed Nyx, smiling mask and all. 

 

“You,” pointing a clawed hand at Julie, “I don’t recognize. But you,” turning to Karolina, who swore she saw Nyx’s golden eyes soften, “I know, Princess of Majesdane.” Reckless and eager to get Nyx out of his home, Chase fired a blast from his fistigons, only for a mass of black to circle and disintegrate it. Julie and Karolina were about to fly off when suddenly, they were slammed into the ground, bound by black chains, Chase in a similar position. Their shadows changed and morphed into more chains, wrapping around their ankles and neck, completely immobilizing them. As Nyx descended down the stairs, the mass of black that surrounded the dark witch’s body spread out, becoming tar as it dripped down the steps and connected with the chains. Julie and Chase struggled in their binds, trying to wiggle out an arm, but the chains only tightened, squeezing their body to the point of being painful. They could almost hear their bones grinding again from the pressure of the binds. Karolina, however, stared into Nyx’s eyes, unmoving and unshaken by the returning glare. There was something about those eyes, something like affection or wistfulness. 

 

As Nyx stepped closer to Karolina, all of a sudden, the chains wrapped around Karolina made a hissing noise as they burned away, the shadows retreating back to their master. Nyx’s own gold eyes widened in shock as her clawed hand burned away, showing the pale hand underneath, the shadows surrounding her body likewise thinned out, exposing the attire Nyx wore: dark gray button up, black pants, brown shoes, and a black trench coat. The view lasted for a moment, before Karolina stood up and blasts Nyx away, surprising the dark user as she slams into the stairs, the protective cloak burned to ash from Karolina’s light. Having lost focus, the chains surrounding Chase and Julie loosen and break, changing into snakes and slithering to Nyx. Using the moment to their advantage, Chase and Karolina fired a combined blast at Nyx. Quickly regaining composure, Nyx takes a piece of her remaining cloak of darkness, shaping it into a sword to deflect the blast,directing it towards the ground. Julie, taking the opportunity, slammed into Nyx, sending her further up the staircase, Nyx’s necklace falling off in the process, caught in Karolina’s hand. By now, Molly and Gert with Old Lace and a hissing Rufus prowling up the steps, have recovered and were closing in on the witch, ready to keep her from escaping.

 

Suddenly the hostel shook, disorientating everyone, even Nyx. “What was that?!” Julie exclaimed, hovering next to Karolina, who was busy staring at the necklace in her hand. The pendant necklace held what looked like a miniature pocket watch, with an unknown black stone in the center. The stone glittered with specks of white, like stars. Karolina couldn’t help but be entranced by it, until a warm hand on her shoulder snapped her out of her daydream. “Karolina, focus! It’s Doom!”

 

“ _ Bring me the head of Victor Mancha! _ ”

 

_ Speak of the devil, there’s the man himself. _

 

Turning to look at Nyx, Karolina hesitated before stretching her hand out to return the necklace. Yet, Nyx did not reach for it, shaking her head, “I leave it in your care, it will be of better use to you than me.” As Nyx slowly dissolved into her own shadow, startling Karolina, the alien imagined that behind the black and white mask, Nyx was smiling at her. Karolina stared at the spot Nyx once occupied, feeling strangely empty. Hearing a shout from Julie, Karolina quickly stuffed the necklace into her pocket, turned and flew out of the hostel to face Doom.

 

A single feather laid at the top of the stairs.

 

________________________________________

 

A white crow watched as the Runaways (plus Julie) faced off against Doom, or rather, Doombot, and failing to stop him. Flying away, the crow returned to its master, turning into tar and meshing with Nyx’s shadow. Taking off her mask, Nyx’s eyes dulled into a brown as she rubbed her forehead, trying to relieve her headache, dried blood from her wound ( _ thank you, Old Lace _ ) flaking off in pieces, a shaky hand bringing the needle to the bite mark. Stopping to look at it and ultimately deciding otherwise, Nyx put the needle down and cleaned the wound with water, deciding to let it scar.

 

A wave of nausea hit the dark witch as she gripped the counter top, steadying herself.

 

_ Damn it. I shouldn’t have morphed twice in one day. _

 

Nyx panted, sweat pouring down her face as her dark layer of protection slithered into her shadow, the shadow turning impossibly dark. Shaking, Nyx changed out of her dirty and torn outfit into a black shirt, dark pants and boots, burning her old outfit in a blaze of black fire. Head pounding, Nyx fell back on the makeshift bed, groaning in pain. Black spots were flashing behind her eyes as tendrils of darkness crawled up her legs, coating her body in its usual protective layer.

 

_ What would you give? _

 

_ What are you willing to sacrifice? _

 

_ What is your price? _

 

Nyx’s eyes flashed gold as she gripped her mask, jaws clenched. Splashing water in her face, Nyx placed the mask back on her face, unruly hair and all. Standing up, Nyx, clawed hand and all, swiped at the air, causing a rip to appear. Holding the gash on both sides, Nyx pried it open to a scenery of black and a red river, filled with corpses and weapons. Staring at the river, Nyx clutched her head in pain before jumping into the waters, letting the currents take her away.

 

_ What would I give? _

 

_ What would I sacrifice? _

 

_ Everything. I would give everything and more. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two fight scenes back to back, how did I do? :D
> 
> Also, if it wasn’t obvious, Nyx’s crows is definitely an inspiration from Naruto (Itachi’s crows were so iconic, I just had to steal it)
> 
> We see a little bit more of Nyx's powers this chapter, so I thought I would share a bit of info at the end of every chapter (just a bit):
> 
> Probably an overused cliche BUT, Nyx feeds off of darkness, so naturally, Karolina's (very gay) light is super effective against Nyx. It doesn't mean that Nyx is totally vunerable against Karolina, just that Nyx's abilities won't be as strong.
> 
> As always, comment down below what you think!


	6. One More Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Molly wonders if there was ever a reason to stay thirteen.
> 
> There's trouble in paradise for our local Majesdanian.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New week, new chapter! Can you guys believe that we're halfway through the comics and a new issue is coming out on the 24th? I should get started on the next work shouldn't I? :D
> 
> If I was to make a sequel, should I make a direct sequel or do you guys want to see the prequel, with Nico, kind of a prequel sequel? Let me know, I'm so indecisive on this stuff.
> 
> Anyways, let's get this week started with another fight sequence against Molly's BFF today.
> 
> This chapter's shoutout goes to swarkler and their fic 'i'm still learning to love (just starting to crawl)' because we love angsty a ex! AU.

So. Two beatings in one day. That’s a record, even for Julie. Not to mention the fact that both times, they were thrown around like paper.

 

Yeah, it hadn’t been a good day.

 

For Molly, it seemed to only get worse. A fight with her best friend over a cupcake the very next day? It sounds stupid but, when immortality is in play, it doesn’t sound so stupid. But yeah, her day hasn’t been going well. Face planting onto the couch, Molly peeked through her hair, pink cupcake still on the coffee table, immaculate as always. Old Lace and Rufus both had tried to eat the cupcake on two separate occasions but luckily, Molly had been there to stop them. But now she’s stuck in an impossible situation. Losing her best friend or never growing up. Asking her fellow Runaways didn’t help, as much as they tried (Gert definitely was suspicious of her now). Not even Julie, one of her idols, gave her a reason to eat the cupcake. But then, they didn’t give much reason _ not _ to eat it either.

 

“You’re so lucky, Rufus. You don’t need to worry about anything of this. You’re cute no matter your age, you always get nice food, and you get all the snuggles you want.” Blinking at the girl, Rufus meowed at Molly, nuzzling against her. Molly sighed, snuggling the cat close, momentarily forgetting about the cupcake. A head of blonde hair peeled out from the corner as blue eyes scanned the room, landing on Molly, who was watching, confused and a little scared.

 

“Julie’s not here yet, is she, Molly?” Raising an eyebrow, Molly shook her head, Rufus purring in agreement. Letting out a breath of relief, Karolina flopped down next to Molly, sagging into the plush cushions of the seat. Rufus took the opportunity to wiggle out of Molly’s arms and padded over to Karolina, kneading at her lap before laying down. Absentmindedly stroking the cat, Karolina stared at the ceiling, lost in her own world.

 

_ Oh yeah, Julie and Karolina had a fight.  _

 

“You uh- you okay, Karo? Is this about what Julie said about Xavin?” Sighing, Karolina sunk further into the seat, “a little bit? I’m not sure, with her wanting me to move to New York and trying to get all of us into a more ‘appropriate lifestyle’” Karolina quoted, furrowing her eyebrows, “trying to be a hero, I don’t know, it’s a lot and to be honest, I really don’t want to deal with it right now.” Molly nodded, turning on the television before noticing the bracelet on Karolina’s wrist. The pendent and the stone she recognized, Nyx’s necklace. “New bracelet?” Molly pointed to the bracelet, raising Karolina’s arm to show her what she was talking about. “Oh! Y-yeah, I guess. I thought the necklace was too loose, so I turned it into a bracelet. I mean, it didn’t fit my style and it was too noticeable. This way people who think to much about it, ‘cuz you know, I wear a bracelet all the time. A-and besides, it looks better like this.” Karolina was rambling on, twisting the bracelets bashfully, eyes staring down at her newest jewelry piece. Rufus pawed at the stone, eyes trained on the shine of the black and white, tail curved up as he prowled towards it.

 

Molly grinned, eyes twinkling mischievously, “you sure it has nothing to do with the person who gave it to you~” When the blond blushed, Molly’s grin widened, brown eyes lighting up, scooting closer to Karolina. Running her hand against the bracelet, Molly’s shining eyes stared into Karolina’s, “tell me how you felt when you met Nyx, how you feel about her now. Tell me everything, oh! girl talk!” Karolina cringed at the thought, “Molly, I’d rather not.” Undeterred by Karolina’s rejection, Molly persisted, “come on, K! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity! I’ll tell you about my experience if you tell me yours!”

 

That got Karolina’s attention, “wait what? Molly, what are you saying?” 

 

“Nyx.. When I punched her… I felt something then. But, I think I’m the only one that felt that way. I want to know how you felt when she was near. I know there was something, I just don’t know what it is though!” Molly’s hand was pressing against the blonde’s pulse somewhat painfully, the mutant forgetting her strength, eyes pleading with Karolina. The blonde sighed in defeat, patting the girl’s head, “alright. But it can’t be today. Julie’s coming over tonight. But I promise we will, ok?” Nodding, Molly hopped off the couch and shoved the cupcake in the box, suddenly turning to Karolina again. “Do you ever think about staying at the age you are, K?”, the mutant looked at Karolina, eyes hard and lips pressed into a thin line. “Where did this come from?” Rufus meowed, kneading Karolina’s stomach as the girl sat up, eyeing Molly.

 

“I just… want to know?” Karolina didn’t believe Molly one bit, but shrugged her shoulders.  _ Middle school angst, maybe? _ “Molly, growing up isn’t a bad thing. It’s a thing of learning and being independent. Would I stay eighteen? I guess, but eventually you’ll need to grow up, you know? Staying eighteen or sixteen or thirteen forever gets boring.” Molly was about to ask more when Chase bursts into the room, face brightened with happiness , “guys! We’s going to watch a movie to celebrate me getting a terrible job! Come on, Molly, get changed! Karolina, let’s go!” Molly squealed and grabbed Rufus, Old Lace obediently following behind as they ran to the van, not bothering to tell Molly to change her clothes, Gert standing by the door waiting for Chase and Karolina while making sure Molly doesn’t hurt herself. Karolina tried to protest, “wait, Chase, I have to wait for Julie, she’s coming over tonight.” 

 

“You can text her to meet up with us! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity! Let’s go!”

 

Karolina tried once more to protest, but ultimately gave up, letting Chase drag her to the van. Of course, she didn’t hear her phone ring, Julie’s name popping up on her screen. That’s why when they got back to the hostel, the sight of a thirteen year old Julie Powers sobbing on their couch was shocking to them. Molly had to admit that the magic cupcake was from Abigail, to the outrage of Gert, who proceeded to scold Molly the whole ride to Abby’s house. Molly merely looked at Julie, guilt in her heart, but Julie wasn’t interested. The normally warm and happy girl was snippy and curt, snapping at anyone and everyone explosively. Not even Karolina could comfort her.

 

When they got to Abby’s house, Karolina tried to stop Julie from coming with them. Snapping at her (ex?)girlfriend, “Karo, I’ve been a superhero since I was  _ thirteen.  _ I’m not a defenseless child, so stop treating me like one,” Julie stomped up the steps to the front door and banged her fist, anger rolling off of her in hot waves. When Abby’s parents opened the door, they were greeted to the sight of one angry thirteen year old, one irritated sixteen year old, one kind of stupid looking (in a charming way) adult, one guilty blonde, and Molly asking for Abigail. Old Lace was an afterthought until they were face to face to the guard dinosaur, staring at them with wide ruby eyes, claws flexing and tail thumping against the wood floor.

 

While Abigail was happy to see her best friend, Molly was not, halfheartedly doing her ‘best friend secret handshake’. Abigail’s green eyes flowed with excitement, “did you eat the cupcake? Is that why you came over?” Molly winced, lips curled back into a grimace, “ummm, not exactly, Abby. It’s… uh… a little complicated.” Abigail raised an eyebrow in confusion, opening her mouth to question her friend when a trail of rainbow colors lit up the room as Lightspeed charged in, growling in rage at Abigail, “are you the one who gave Molly that stupid cupcake!? Where’s the cure? Tell me!”

 

“Who’s this kid?” Abigail was, on top of being incredibly confused, slightly alarmed as to how this human trail mix knew about the cupcake. Julie, offended at being called a kid, pointed to herself, “I’m not a kid! I’m a college freshman! It was that cupcake that turned me into this!” Oh, now Abigail got the idea, eyes twitching in anger as Julie continued her rant. She turned to Molly, glaring at her supposed best friend, “you gave her the cupcake? After everything I told you, you gave a stranger the cupcake? I even wore this stupid necklace for you!”

 

“Hey! It’s not stupid!”

 

Gert sighed, rubbing her temple, “guys! Focus! You!,” pointing a finger at Abigail, Gert growled threateningly, “where’s the cure?” Crossing her arms, the immortal thirteen year old scoffed, “there’s no cure. You just have to live with it.” That pierced Julie’s heart, crying, “that can’t be possible! I don’t want to be a thirteen year old forever, the angst, the hormones, the bra shopping! I don’t want to live through that again!” Karolina tried her best to comfort Julie, looking at Abigail with pain and rage swirling in her blue eyes.

 

Gert growled in frustration, grabbing at Abigail’s collar, “tell me the cure.”

 

“No. There’s no cure.”

 

“You’re lying. Tell us before we have to do this the hard way,” Chase held up his fists, fistigons locked on the thirteen year old, ready at Gert’s command. Karolina, however, had a different idea. “Guys, we aren’t seriously considering attacking a thirteen year old?” Chase only scowled, eyes unusually hard as a storm raged in them, “yes. I’ve done worse things before.” Karolina moved to protest, but a glare from Chase shut her up.

 

Abigail scoffed at the sight before lifting Gert and throwing her behind her, getting into a stance. “The hell was that? Gert, are you alright?” Chase immediately raised his fists up in defense, stepping back away from Abigail. A smug smirk made its way onto Abigail’s lips, taking a step forward, “Aikido. I’ve had fifty years to learn all kinds of stuff and get good at them. You’ve got nothing on me.”

 

Chase scowled and attempted to grab Abigail, but the girl crouched down to avoid his arms and slammed her foot into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. The force of the kick caused Victor to slip out of his bindings from Chase’s bag, flinging him to Abigail’s desk, where multiple vials laid. Victor eyes the vials and, realizing that the cure was one of them, tried to get Karolina’s attention but to no avail.

 

“We don’t want to hurt you Abby!” Karolina raises her hands to fight Abigail but hesitated to strike. Taking the fencing sword mounted on her wall (“seriously?! Who has a sword on her wall?”) Abigail pointed the sword at Karolina, “you can try to hit me. I dare you.” Thrusting the sword towards Karolina, Abigail managed to wack Chase in the face with it (“Come on! Why does it always have to be me!”), knocking him into her closet. The immortal girl was closing in on Karolina when Victor yelled at her, “guys, I think I found the cure! It’s this bottle right next to me!”

 

“No! You can’t take it! There’s only of those!” Abigail moved to intercept Victor, but Molly and a energized Julie jumped to hold her down. Karolina juggled the vial in her hands, unsure of what to do. “Guys, is it a good idea to sacrifice Abigail’s life to save Julie? Shouldn’t we see if we can replicate this?” Gert snatched the vial out of Karolina’s hands, determined, “Abigail’s had fifty years to think on this, Karo.  _ Fifty.  _ Julie never had a choice.” Pressing the bottle into Julie’s hands, she didn’t hesitate before drinking the vial, ignoring Abigail’s cry. A glow surrounded the girl before she aged up, turning back into her original age.

 

Abigail crumbled to the ground and wailed, fat tears rolling down her eyes as Molly tried to offer some form of comfort. Abigail’s parents were at the door, somber as they took in the scene in front of them, merely uttering “go” before tending to the now forever thirteen year old. The car ride back was painful silent, Molly cradling her BFF necklace, Gert stroking Old Lace’s head absentmindedly, Julie looking out the window, Karolina twisting her bracelets, and Chase, blue eyes unreadable, driving in silence. Victor, being only a head, knew better than to try to crack a joke and instead stayed silent, eyes staring at a stain on the seats.

 

Parking the van in front of the hostel, nobody said a word as they filed into their home. Julie put a hand on her girlfriend’s shoulder, “hey, about tonight… I didn’t mean what I said, thirteen was a bad year for me.” Karolina tried to smile at Julie, but a part of her knew that there were some things she did mean to say. “You were planning to break up with me, right?” when Julie opened her mouth to refute that, Karolina wrapped her hands around her bicep, “it’s okay Julie. I guess, I should’ve seen this coming. You and I were moving away from each other and I’m not talking about the distance.”

 

Julie nodded, accepting the reality of the situation, “I’m really sorry Karolina. But I can’t be second priority or your second call. I just can’t keep chasing after you when you keep running.” Karolina nodded, pulling her girlfriend into a hug. “We can try to work this out? I know, I know,” Karolina twisted the bracelet on her wrist, “it’s stupid and we might hurt each other more than if we just break up, but I don’t want to do that until I’m certain breaking up is the only way. Please Julie, I need you to trust me.”

 

“I- how can I trust you if you can’t trust me to tell me anything?”

 

“I know, I can’t tell you everything, but I can tell you some. That’s the best I can do.” Karolina was trying, blue eyes pleading. Julie thought about it for a moment before sighing, “I need time to think about this. I’ll give you a call when I feel ready, okay?” It wasn’t a yes, but Karolina will take what she is offered. It’ll be a start to a better and healthier relationship, one neither Karolina or Julie are not yet sure if she’s jumping headfirst into. But they’re willing to dip a toe in and for now, that’s enough.

 

“Okay.”

 

_ Okay. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> surprise, I didn't break Karolina and Julie up! I hope no one's upset over that, because I genuinely like them, maybe not as a couple (deanoru is my life), but I want to have a little bit of fun, maybe set up for an angsty love triangle *wink wink nudge nudge*
> 
> Because Nyx didn't show up in this chapter, it's fitting to talk about the inspiration behind the character and her powers (though by now, my wonderful readers have most likely figured out who our magician is, no?): Nyx's powers are largely based on the following:  
> One Piece: Logia fruit ability  
> Cloak from Cloak and Dagger (maybe? IDK Someone correct me on this LOL)  
> Nico’s father (using a spell book)  
> Overlord anime  
> Alex’s ‘zombie’ status  
> Naruto: Itachi’s crows  
> Spider Man’s symbiotes


	7. Getting on with the Times

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The world has moved on and changed.
> 
> Has Gert adjusted to it though?
> 
> Is Victor ready for a new body?
> 
> Has Nico ever cared to come back?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooooooooooo, my internet's been acting up lately, but I still wanted to post this chapter. Depending on my situation, the next chapter may be held back for a few days. But that's life.
> 
> Also, is it considered a bad habit to be jumping between works? I've been jumping from this one to like three other WIPs that I have LOL.
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter!
> 
> shoutout goes to ddeanoru (white_rose) for their wronger number AU "expectation"!

 

Saturday Morning.

 

The one day where you could sleep in late until you need to climb out of bed for cheap coffee and cold eggs. The one day the could take a break and just go do some people watching, a day of relaxation and rest for them.

 

At least, that was what they used to do.

 

Now, Gert’s just passing a wrench to Chase while Old Lace napped on the king-sized bed. Who knew what Chase was doing with the hole he carved into the room’s ceiling. Anytime anyone asked, he just said “secret project.” Gert didn’t know what to think, or rather, she didn’t know what was going on in general between her and Chase. They were together in the past, so madly in love, yet Gert can’t find in within herself to love the present Chase as she did the past. Is it because she hasn’t spent the time growing up with this version, or is it simply because she doesn’t fit in this timeline?

 

“Gert? You okay?”

 

“Huh?” Snapping back to reality, Gert realized that the wrench was still in her hand, Chase staring down at her with concern. Shaking her head, Gert passed the wrench into Chase’s hand, avoiding his eyes. _Do they not make my heart skip anymore? Should I swoon when he shows concern for me?_ “You sure you’re alright, Gert? You know you don’t have to keep me company. You should go out, get some fresh air.” Chase reached up, wrench in hand, and tightened up the screws. His tank, one size too small, hiked up, revealing to Gert his tattoo. A pink heart with her name written in an elegant print. Unable to face reality, Gert swiftly walked out of the room, not hearing Chase calling for her.

 

Walking down the steps, Gert looked up to see Molly in an intense game on the television, Rufus meowing every now and then. Groaning as her character died, Molly looked up, grinning at Gert, “hey Gert! Wanna play?” Molly held up the controller, but Gert shook her head, “no, I-I’m gonna going out for a while. Where’s Karolina by the way?” The aforementioned blonde was nowhere to be seen today, having walked out of the hostel early in the morning to get some sun and hasn’t returned since. Molly shrugged, restarting her game, “no idea, but she did call a few minutes ago, said she’ll be back late. Oh! I almost forgot, Karo and I are having a girls night tonight!”

 

Gert snorted, muttering something under her breath that Molly didn’t catch. When she questioned Gert on it, Gert merely shook her head and walked out of the hostel. She couldn’t explain it, but she just knew she needed to get out of the hostel and fast.

 

Walking aimlessly around the city, Gert stumbles into a busy area, people walking by and weaving around her, all in a rush to get to wherever they needed to go. Almost bumping into someone, Gert mumbled an apology as she looked up, eyes widening with shock.

 

_What the hell?_

 

So many people with their hair dyed. Pinks, reds, blues, _purples_ , all around her were trails of color, of expression. From young and reckless teens to the old and cautious elderly, there were so many heads of purples, so many that it swallowed Gert. Biting her lip, Gert weaves through the crowd of purple, avoiding eye contact and attempting to not look at everyone, staring at the ground. _This isn’t fair._ Her hair, the dark, odd colored purple was the only thing she loved about herself, the thing that made her so noticeable, the thing that made her _Gert_. It was something special and something only for her, at least that’s what she thought in the past.

 

But seeing it on so many people, even if it wasn’t the same exact shade, Gert’s heart tightened as she struggled to hold back tears. It wasn’t fair, the one thing that was special about herself, the thing that was supposed to be hers, was now stolen and spread among st everyone, without her knowing about it. It made her sick. Stopping for a breather, Gert took a look at her own reflection. No matter how hard she looked, she still looked the same, yet everything around her had changed. Gert realized that now, she was the outsider.

 

Taking a shaky breath, Gert found the closest store and decided to browse the box dye section. Her hand reached out to buy the purple dye before she stopped herself. _What’s the point?_ Gert thought to herself. She wanted to be unique, to stand out, that’s why she dyed her hair purple (she can still remember how pissed her parents were when they saw how uneven the dye job was the first time she did it), but now, how is she any different from the people outside, with their rainbow hair?

 

She’s not.

 

_Am I the same girl you’ve been missing the past two years?_

 

_Am I the same girl you thought of as a sister?_

 

_Am I the same girl who you considered your closest friend?_

 

_Am I even the same girl that you loved?_

 

Putting the purple box dye back on the shelf, Gert took another box of hair dye instead and brought it up to the counter.

 

_Purple was so last year, anyway._

 

* * *

  


“Victor Mancha, why are you floating around in a primitive and dangerous form of transportation?”

 

Doombot released Victor from his balloons as he set the suitcase down, untangling the web of strings from the balloon. Chase immediately began to move things around his workshop, muttering how he should’ve cleaned it weeks ago, Molly helping Chase move the heavier things. Setting Victor down on a clean spot, Doombot places the suitcase on the now cleared table, telling Chase that his state of cleanliness is a disgrace and highly unprofessional, much to the blond’s annoyance.

 

“Yeah yeah, Doomy. Did you bring what I asked for, though?” Despite the the faceless look on Doombot’s face, everyone in the room felt his twitch of an eyebrow, if he had any, of course. “Of course I did.” Without pulling it out, Victor immediately knew what was in the suitcase. He could practically feel it, and it make him nervous.

 

“Is that- is that vibranium?”

 

Chase blinked, “yeah, how can you tell?” The cyborg glared at the cylindrical battery, “I can feel it. I don’t that in my body.” Chase held up the battery, confused about Victor’s reaction to the vibranium battery, “but it’s for your new body?” The cyborg glared even hard, “I said I don’t want that!”

 

Before Chase and Victor got into an argument over the battery, Doombot quickly cut in, “no matter. I have brought something better for you, Victor Mancha.” From the suitcase, Doombot produced a futuristic body. On the outside, it didn’t look all too different from a human body, despite Doombot’s apparent excitement. Linking the cyborg head to the body, Victor could feel nothing wrong with it too. Twisting his limbs around and testing the compatibility, his suddenly morphed and changed into a blaster, to the shock of the cyborg and the excitement of Molly and Chase.

 

“Cool!”

 

“What-what is this?!”

 

Doombot merely clapped his hands together, “I gave this body more protection. They are modeled after my own defenses. They are for your protection, Victor Mancha.” Victor didn’t think so. Staring at his arm, he can only see the hundred ways he could hurt people with it, how easily he can go out of control. How dangerous it would be against his family. “Chase! Get me off this thing!” _I don’t want to hurt more people._ Victor was full blown panicking, trying to remove himself from the weapon that is his would-be body. “Stay still Victor! I don’t want you to get fried!” after several attempts to calm Victor down, Chase managed to detach the head from the body, quietly hand him off to Molly, who took it to her room, leaving Chase and Doombot with the body.

 

“I do not understand. This new body is significantly better than Victor Mancha’s current state of being. Perhaps he is upset it is not as powerful as hit original?”

 

Chase sighed, patting Doombot’s mechanical shoulder, “Doomy, I don’t think that’s the problem. Let me explain.” Chase hopes that the robot would understand.

 

(And maybe sugar talk him into letting the blond keep the body to integrate into the body he had made.)

 

 

* * *

 

By the time Victor calmed down, Doombot had been given the rundown of what exactly was wrong with the body he had prepared for Victor. While he still didn’t understand what was wrong on the emotional level, he knew that this was not the body Victor was looking for and because of that, he left Chase to give Victor his new body, under the promise that he is allowed to upgrade it from time to time.

 

“I’m sorry Doombot.”

 

The robot hummed, “I still do not understand, Victor Mancha. However, it seems that this is perhaps best in Chase Stein’s hands after all.” Doombot turned to Chase, “I will return to modify that body you have prepared. While it is… acceptable, there are little defense on such a skeletal body.” Chase nodded, “you can stay for dinner, you know. Karo called, said she went to Irene’s for the day. We have more that enough food to go around. Plus, it’s pizza night.” Somewhere in the background, Chase could hear Molly cheering at the thought of pizza.

 

“Gert! We’re ordering pizza!”

 

“I can not eat.”

 

“Yeah well, it’s called table spirit (he made that up).”

 

“I see.”

 

While the group chatted among st each other, The didn’t notice Gert walk into the room. Only the sound of heels clicking down the steps alerted them, but they were not prepared for the vision that was Gertrude Yorkes, brown hair curled and a brand new outfit. It almost looked like a new person. Molly squealed and ran up to her.

 

“Is that your new hairstyle? Is the brown your natural hair? We look so much like sisters now, I love it! Oh, Karolina’s not home for pizza tonight but Doombot’s staying for dinner and we’re ordering pizza, what do you want? Can we get the taco pizza! You and I are the only ones that like the taco pizza!”

 

Gert merely smiled, answering all of Molly’s questions with a “sure”. She didn’t know why she was scared of their reaction before but she should’ve known that they weren’t going to treat her any differently. They never did to begin with.

 

_The times may have changed, but we never did._

 

_Did you, Nico?_

 

* * *

 

 

 

“It’s getting quite late, dear. Are you sure you don’t want to stay for the night?”

 

“I’m sure, Irene. Thank you for dinner… and the extra, Chase will love it, I’m sure”

 

“Well, I’ll let you go now, do get home safely. This part of the city can be a little rough.”

 

After saying goodbye to Irene, Karolina walked down the street, trying to find her car. It wasn’t that she had forgotten where she parked it, it was more of the case of she can’t find it that’s the issue. She could’ve sworn she parked it right outside the closed bakery, but it’s no longer there anymore.

 

_That’s weird._

 

Running a hand through her hair, Karolina thought about where else he car may be before she heard a cry for help. Turning towards the noise, Karolina could see in the distance a man clutching his stomach, blood dripping with every step. Becoming alarmed when he collapsed, the blonde ran up to him, “sir, are you alright? What happened to you?”

 

The man’s fearful eyes looked up to Karolina as he sputtered, “you need to go! It’s still here, I can feel it! You need to go! Now!”

 

Confused, Karolina leaned the man against a wall before looking down the street the man came from. “I don’t see anyone,” Karolina turned to the man, who had curled into a ball, head in between his knees, “sir, are you sure you saw something? Sir?”

 

The man kept repeating the same phrase over and over, “it’s coming, it’s coming…” That unnerved the blonde, prompting her to look around for who the man was talking about. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of her head stood up and the air became colder. Karolina quickly placed her hand on her bracelets, breath quickening as she looked around for the source of her fears. She knew this feeling, she knew who was coming. A feather tickled the back of her neck, prompting her to turn around, facing away from the man (by that point he was inconsolable anyway, reduced to a quaking, sobbing mess, snot and all). Goosebumps littered her skin when she found nothing, eyes darting from one spot to another.

 

Suddenly the man screamed in terror, Karolina turned around, but a hand covered her eyes, obscuring the view. When she tried to jab at the person behind her, she quickly realized that she couldn’t move her arms, nails- no, _claws_ \- digging into her bicep, scratching the skin but not drawing blood. The blonde heard the man scream once more before a sickening crunch silenced him, blood and flesh hitting the brick wall and sidewalk with a loud splatter. She felt the blood pooling onto the sidewalk, spreading underneath her sneaker and it took everything within Karolina to not puke at the thought.

 

_Oh my god. Oh my god._

 

She didn’t need to see it to know that the man was dead, _killed_ by whoever was covering her eyes. And she couldn’t do anything to save him. She was powerless to stop his killer, even though they were right behind her. Body pumped with adrenaline, Karolina tried to wrestle out of the grip the killer had, but before she could, Karolina felt something cold and slimy envelope her, startling her. The killer released her out of their grip and when she blinked, Karolina found that she was no longer in the city. Rather, her entire surrounding became black. Nothingness and empty.Blinking again, the black warped and changed, brightening into a dark red sky and white buildings. She stood in an empty street as the buildings crumbled around her, leaving only the white street and red sky, which dimmed into an almost black shade.

 

She didn’t need to turn around to know who brought her here. Behind her, a clear, sharp voice echoed in the vast empty space.

 

“Let’s have a little chat, Karolina Dean.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oop, a cliffhanger! I realized how close I was to where the comics are currently at and thought it would be a good idea to add in some filler chapter here and there, especially since I plan to diverge from the comics completely after a certain point.
> 
> anyway, here's more trivia on Nyx: Nyx's abilities are pretty much based on how a mage would behave in a standard MMORPG, with mana/SP etc. The more she uses the same ability, particular a strong spell, it takes a greater amount of effort to use it and get progressively weaker the more it is used. Of course, she can wait for her spells to return to it original way overtime, but that wait is a long wait (think like a cooldown), and her most powerful spells are often one time uses anyway and make her extremely tired.


	8. A threat or a Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An encounter with Nyx in the middle of the night.
> 
> Karolina can't tell if she should be afraid or spiteful towards the mysterious woman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, my Internet's back online and just in time too!
> 
> This month's a busy one, with finals and all, but I'm still going to update this work as often as I can. Hopefully, if my wifi doesn't fail me, we'll be back to the weekly schedule.
> 
> This chapter is basically a filler chapter because I noticed that we were so close to where the comics were. Wanted to expand on the characters (specifically our soon to be love triangle(s)) and sort of add in a little humor.
> 
> Also, can I just say, god damn Noob Saibot in the new Mortal Kombat game. I feel like I just ripped his abilities and appearance for Nyx... actually, that's not a bad idea LOL.
> 
> This week's shoutout is to rulolatara's fic "We are where we want to be". That recent chapter was just stunning and I'm so happy to updated it! I was screaming when I saw the new chapter!

“Nyx.”

 

Dressed in a black attire consisting of a form-fitting shirt, sleeveless jacket with a furred collar, loose pants and boots, coupled with a white mask that covered the lower half of her face rather than the one Karolina saw first her in, the dark magic user looked less intimidating compared to the first time they met, back at the hostel. Nyx huffed, cheeks flushed, trying to regain her composure, combing unruly black hair back unsuccessfully as the bangs fell over her golden eyes. It seems that transporting two people, in her weakened state, proved to be an even bigger challenge that she had thought. She’ll have to feed soon, lest she wants to fall face first onto the floor in front of her guest.

 

The dark witch nodded at the blonde after a moment, arms stiffly folded behind her back, watching, waiting for Karolina’s next move. When assured that Karolina would make no move against her, despite her hand inching closer to her medical bracelet, Nyx visibly relaxed, shoulder sagging, arms unfolding to hang by her sides. Karolina did the opposite, standing at attention, eyes concentrated on Nyx’s ever movement.

 

“I mean no harm, Miss Dean. I only wish to speak with you and, if you heed me, pass a warning.”

 

Karolina frowned, arms crossing defensively across her chest, “how can I trust you? You  _ killed  _ that man!” Nyx stared at the blonde, gold eyes regarding her for a moment before she scoffed, “that man was no saint, Miss Dean. I don’t prey on the innocent. You don’t have to trust me, only listen.” Nyx almost sounded offended that Karolina would accuse her of blatant murder, but it doesn’t change anything in Karolina’s eyes. Blue eyes stared at gold eyes, unwilling to believe her.

 

Nyx broke eye contact, sighing in irritation, “fine, don’t believe me. It doesn’t matter-“

 

“Of course it does!”

 

Ignoring the outburst, Nyx continued, “I brought you here for a reason and it takes quite a lot out of me to open a portal and bring in not one, but two guests. So if you want to return to your friends in one piece, I suggest you calm down.” Lips pressed together in a thin line, Karolina briefly wondered if Nyx just made a threat at her. Not wanting to take any chances, Karolina forced her body to relax, though her face still conveyed the distrust the blonde felt, “what do you want, Nyx?”

 

“I’m here to warn you: do not trust the man who comes to you with the olive branch.”

 

“What?”

 

Karolina blinked, confusion apparent in her face.  _ What was Nyx talking about? _ The dark witch saw the confusion on Karolina’s face and twitched, bringing her hand to pinch the bridge of her nose, “there will be one you once called friend and comrade who will return. He will come to you, offering his trickery with deceitful diplomacy. I have no doubt there will be some among your friends who will not agree to his madness, but” Nyx pointed a clawed finger at Karolina, “I will burn it into you, to be sure there are no surprises. This man is no friend nor is he ally. Do not accept what he offers, do not dare to ask what he offers, do not wonder what could be. Only know that his lies can become truth with the way he spit them. If you do not trust me now, you will soon.”

 

Karolina blinked before shaking her head in exasperation, “you’re not making any sense, Nyx. Who are you talking about? What’s going on? Who’s coming to see us?” Nyx lowered her head, black bangs falling over her face, “you will be facing some dark times in the coming months, Karolina Dean. I hope you are ready for them. I can not say anymore as to what will happen, only know that I will be watching.” Stepping closer to the blonde, Nyx reached out with an inquisitive hand, claws brushing against the blonde’s cheek cheek. Karolina held her breath as the hand pressed itself against her face, hearing a crackle and sizzle as the claws disintegrated to reveal the pale but very human hand underneath. Pulling away, Nyx examined her hand, watching it slowly reform the black claws with interest.

 

“How interesting. You still affect it even when you have the bracelet on… hmm, I suppose there is no point in keeping you here any longer, yes?”

 

“Hey, wait a minute! You had your turn to speak, now it’s my turn!”

 

Marching up to Nyx, Karolina jabbed a ginger at Nyx’s chest, startling the dark magic user. Blues eyes blazing with irritation, Karolina looked into Nyx’s gold eyes, “first you kill a man in front of me, then you kidnap me,  _ then  _ you give me this weird cryptic message? Are you trying to give me a heart attack? Plus you need to get a change of style. I get it, Nyx, goddess of the night and all that, but seriously, a little variety wouldn’t hurt anyone you know. And don’t even get me started with your attitude. I mean, come on! Threatening people isn’t earning you any brownie points, the least you could do is be cordial. Also, do you have any idea how terrified I was when you ambushed me? Was that really necessary…” Karolina kept on ranting, stepping into Nyx’s personal space and jabbing her every once in a while when she wanted emphasize on a specific point. Nyx could only stand there and blink, clearly not used to this behavior and cringed when her shadow made a singsong noise, clearly teasing her. This was the first time anyone spoke to her in such a manner since becoming Nyx, and so far, it seemed to have thrown her off her balance.

 

“I- I’m sorry?”

 

“Sorry doesn’t make it right! I lost a lot of time and probably my sanity because of you…”

 

So, the dark magic caster merely stood and waited for the blonde to finish, which she hoped wasn’t too long. Even though time was a nonexistent factor in the dimension, Nyx could feel the day passing by outside and her thoughts going a hundred miles a hour did not help either. She’d rather not keep Karolina in the dimension any longer that she has to and judging by the headache Nyx was about to get, she really needed to get Karolina home. Holding a hand up to grip Karolina’s wrist, stopping the girl mid-rant, Nyx used her other hand to open a portal back to the hostel.

 

Pushing Karolina out and stepping out after her, Nyx surveyed the area, making sure no one was around. Satisfied with her assessment, she turned back to Karolina, “this is where we part ways, Miss Dean. Do take care to remember my words. I’ll be watching.” 

 

“Hey wait!”

 

One foot already in the portal, Nyx turned her head, glancing at Karolina. The blonde held out the bracelet she made out of the necklace. Nyx glanced at it before waving her hand dismissively, “keep it on you. As I said before, it will serve you before then it serves me.” Without waiting for a reply, Nyx jumped back into the portal, closing it in a wisp of smoke.

 

Karolina stood a her stop a little while longer, soaking in the sun’s rays. She didn’t know how starved of sunlight she was until she inhaled deeply, feeling energized. Luckily, it was still relatively early in the morning, so the rest of the runaways are probably eating breakfast right now. Stomach growling, Karolina decided to cut her sun soaking short and walk back into the hostel for breakfast. She kept the meeting to herself while Chase and Gert grilled her about where she was the other night, smoothly lying that she stayed at a friend’s place close by to the apartment. Truthfully, she felt bad for lying to them, but the blonde felt that it was probably for the best if she did. Karolina stabbed at her plate of pancakes as she went through her messages.

 

A text from Julie asking to meet tomorrow (Karolina resisted the urge to sigh in relief), her roommate asking where she was (she really needs to get back to school, she’s missed god knows how many days), a few classmates filling her in on class and the assignments she missed, mail, and an unknown number.

 

_ Hm, that’s weird. _

 

Glancing around to see if anyone is watching, Karolina scanned the message, resisting the urge to snort in bemusement at the message. Her lips twitched, unable to decide whether to cringe or to smile at the dorky message. Karolina settled for a awkward half-smile, through her eyes twinkled with laughter and unease.

 

**Unknown (7:45AM):**

_ (Attached photo of Karolina’s food from Irene) I have your package. It was most delicious. _

 

* * *

 

 

_ Your girl is most interesting. _

 

Nyx hummed absentmindedly as she wretched the knife out of the man’s neck, tsking when the blood splattered against her jacket. Cleaning the knife and sheathing it, the dark magic caster’s shadow crawled towards the corpse, creating a pool of dark liquid underneath the body, melting the corpse. A red glow envelopes Nyx as she feels herself growing more powerful, absorbing the life force of the man she killed.

 

The other men in the warehouse struggled in their binds, eyes wide with fear. They knew they were next and tried to escape, only for the chains to tighten around them, nearly crushing their bodies. Muffled groans echoed in the building as one man felt his ribs on the verge of breaking, another’s head rolling back from the pain. Tapping a finger against her mask, Nyx inspected her livestock, her shadow extend to the bind that trapped the men, drawing power from their fear. Stopping in front of a younger-looking man, Nyx ripped the tape off of his face, resisting the urge to cringe when the man opened his mouth in a silent scream.

 

“Please, let me go, I’m still young, I can change. Take the guys, just spare me, please! I-I promise, I won’t tell anyone. I-I’ll pretend I never saw this!”

 

Scowling underneath the white mask, Nyx gripped the throat of the whimpering young man and swiftly crushed the windpipe. “If you had any loyalty, you would’ve begged me to save your friends. Your cowardice just delivered me your friends’s lives.”

 

Muffled screams could be heard as the bodies of the other men were crushed and absorbed into the pool of dark liquid, leaving a trail of a black stain on the floor. Breathing in the scent of death in the air, Nyx whispered at seemingly no one, “she’s not my girl.”

 

_ No? How odd, I thought she was. _

 

Nyx’s shadow danced as its master groaned, face scrunched up in annoyance. Crossing the warehouse to the crates stacked at the back, Nyx summoned a sword to hack the crates open, its contents spilling out. Picking up the suspicious white package, Nyx brought it up to her nose, sniffing it, pulling away in disgust when the smell hit her. Dropping the package, Nyx conjured a black flame in the palm of her hand and thrusted it in the direction of the crates, setting them on fire. Watching the flames burn all the product away with an odd look of satisfaction for a moment, Nyx turned to walk even further into the back of the warehouse, the sound of metal-plated boots clanging in the building.

 

Knocking on the ground for a specific spot, Nyx stomped at the spot, cracking the ground and exposing the hidden box to the dark magic user. Carefully taking the box out of the hole, Nyx pried it open with a knife, taking out the small, circular object. The object glowed a faint green when Nyx touched it, burning her hand. Dropping the object to nurse her hand, Nyx used her shadow to lift it to eye level, inspecting it. Turning it over and writing down the strange marks on the back of the object, Nyx opened a portal and tossed the circular artifact into it.

 

Taking of her mask as her magical aura faded back into her shadow, Nyx took a deep breath, gold eyes turning to brown, skin brightening to a peachy color. Stumbling out of the warehouse, Nyx hesitated for a second before summoning a scythe-like staff, cutting the air in front the warehouse.

 

Suddenly, the building was sliced in half, the left side collapsing as the right burned for a while before exploding, sending metal parts and wooden debris in every direction. Hearing footsteps nearing the destroyed warehouse and a shout of alarm, Nyx turned in the opposite direction and ran, making a quick escape, leaving nothing but a black stain on the concrete road.

 

Turning into an alleyway, Nico stopped for a minute, turning to watch the crowd gathering around the ruined building, murmuring about the content that survived the fire as police cars swerved onto the site and firefighter hosing the flames down. Ducking into a clothing store, Nyx disposed of her outfit and changed into a gray button up, jeans, and a leather jacket before walking out into the busy street, passing by the crowd still gathered around the warehouse. Pulling on black framed glasses and a blue LA Dodgers baseball cap, Nyx walked off, blending into the streets of California, no one stopping to glance at her way.

 

Within the shadows, red eyes watched as the dark haired girl turned a street corner, grunting as the eyes moved shadow to shadow to follow her. Black tendrils snaked out of the alleyway, pointing at their target. Nyx glanced out of the corner of her eyes,smirking as the tendrils followed her. Turning to another alleyway, when the shadows followed into a junkyard, they were sliced in half by a scythe.

 

Surprised, the shadows merged together, forming a giant, red reptile-like creature, its beady eyes locked onto Nyx as its mouth dripped acidic saliva onto the dirt. Taking off her cap and glasses, Nyx put on her mask, her shadow stretching to cover her in a protective layer. Eyes turning gold, the dark magic caster twirled the scythe in her hand, glaring up at the beast. 

 

“You couldn’t have picked a better time?”

 

“ **GIBB- RETURN- ARTIFACT-** ”

 

“Tch, of course that’s why you’re here…”

 

Stabbing the scythe into the ground, a magic circle encompassed the area, glowing a bright purple. Another magic circle, one that was smaller, turned before stopping on an image of a old man by himself, holding a lantern in one hand and a staff in the other. The two circles glowed brighter before cracking, summoning a black field that surrounded the junkyard. Picking up the scythe, Nyx threw it at the creature, scratching its shoulder.

 

The beast roared as the blade sliced its flesh again when it swung back to Nyx like a boomerang. Gripping the scythe in one hand, the other hand conjured up a black flame, shaping it into a spear-like object. Lowering her body, Nyx brought her weapons to the face the growling beast.

 

“ **Tarot: Hermit.** Let’s see how you like it when I slowly cut your senses off, beast.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tarot: Hermit is a "tarot" ability that Nyx uses, as part of the greater "tarot" abilities (no spoilers!). It basically creates an invisible field where, on the outside, it blocks out all sounds and sight, meaning whoever is in the field can't be see or heard from on the outside. In the inside, Nyx has the ability to slowly rob people of their senses, starting with the most useless one within Hermit, which is taste. Slowly it removes the other 4 senses in the order of importance, so sight is the last to go It's a really slow process and because of how slow it is, Nyx doesn't rely too much on it, plus the effects are temporary, but remain permanent as long as Hermit is active. She also had two abilities that she can use within Hermit, but let's save that for another day.
> 
> The second thing is Nyx's scythe. It's technically her staff, but she doesn't use it a lot, at least for spells. It more often works as a weapon than her staff because the staff technically only has one spell Nyx can use, but she's saving it. If she felt like it, she can change the appearance of her staff, having done so in the past. Where does she hid it if she's not using it? Well, in her shadow, which I kind of established has hosting a sentient being. All of this will be expanded on soon, I promise.
> 
> Thanks for reading guys!


	9. Back to Square One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karolina wants to fix her relationship with Julie.
> 
> The question is: does Julie want the same?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I know I didn't post last week, graduation and all, but this week's chapter is a light fluffy filler chapter as I try to get back into the groove of things! There's not much to say, so enjoy this chapter!

**“** Hey.”

 

“Hey.”

 

Sliding into the booth, Karolina took off her bomber jacket and draped it over the seat. Julie’s hands twitched as she nursed a cup of coffee, long gone cold. Sliding a menu over to Karolina, Julie’s eyes fell on her phone as Karolina ordered a cup of tea. There was a drawn out awkward silence, where both parties didn’t know what to say. Julie’s eyes were glued to her phone and generally looking anywhere but at Karolina. Clearing her throat, Karolina rested her chin on her hands.

 

“So… you said you wanted to meet?”

 

Julie, for the time that morning, looked up to regard Karolina. She opened her mouth to speak, but a waitress bringing Karolina her cup of tea cut her off. Lightspeed waited for Karolina to take a sip from her cup before attempting to speak again, hands twirling her own cup of coffee.

 

“Yeah. I… I thought about what you said, after the whole cupcake incident.”

 

Karolina winced seeing Julie press her lips into a thin line. It was clearly a sensitive topic to talk about and, to be honest, she couldn’t blame Julie for not wanting to remember that night. Sipping her tea to prolong the silence, Karolina nodded at Julie to continue, unsure of the appropriate words to say.

 

“I- I was right to say we weren’t working out. It was true, it wasn’t the distance, it was us. You weren’t willing to share and I was reaching for too much, I guess. We just didn’t work out like we thought.”

 

Julie sighed, eyes trained on the plain with surface of the metal table, “but I can’t blame you for trying to give us another chance. I thought about it a lot, about giving us a go again. About everything.”

 

Karolina reached to touch Julie’s arm in comfort and patience, “we don’t have to talk about it if it’s stressing you out. I can wait if you need more time.” But Julie shook her head, eyes hard with determination, “no, it’s not fair to keep you waiting, even if you deserve some pain.”

 

Lightspeed looked up at Karolina, setting her coffee cup aside, “I can’t have a relationship without trust, Karo. I think you feel the same. If we want this to work, we need to trust each other. No more hiding, no more secrets unless it’s necessary, we just need to be more open and take this one day at a time,” Julie smiled bemusedly, “I think we went into this a little too fast last time. We didn’t have time to really talk about anything. I’m willing to try, K, but I need to have the same level of trust and commitment from you as well.” By the end of that, Julie’s hands were intertwined with Karolina’s hand, who sat across, blue eyes shining with happiness and hope with a wide grin on her face.

 

Tossing her long blonde hair back, Karolina gripped Julie’s hands tight, leaning forward, “I would be lying if I said that I can trust you with all my secrets,” she held a hand up when Julie’s faced fell in disappointment, “but I can promise you that from here on out, I’ll let you in more and not keep you in the dark. I know it’s not much, but, soon, I’ll let you know everything.” It was a compromise, fair perhaps, given the circumstances. Karolina released her grip on Julie’s hands, allowing her to pull back and think on what was said.

 

Fiddling with her phone, Julie sighed, a small smile appearing, though she didn’t seem terribly upset by the changes set forward, “if that’s what you’ll give me today, I guess I have to take what I get. I guess I did expect you to say that, so I’m not too mad at you for it. That’s what you said that night after all.” Twisting her fingers, Julie continued, “I’m okay with that, if you are.” She held out her hand in front of Karolina, “give me another chance?”

 

Without any hesitation, Karolina met her in the middle and shook her girlfriend’s hand, “of course, Julie. I heard there was a really nice Thai restaurant that just opened a few blocks downs. How do you feel about lunch?”

 

Chuckling, Julie stood up, throwing down a few bills, “Thai for lunch sounds wonderful. Shall we?”

 

The two girls left the cafe, hand in hand, chatting amiably about what the other person missed out on.

 

* * *

 

 

“That was nice right?”

 

Karolina looked to her right, where Julie glances at her, hand shoved into her green jacket. Smiling, the alien nudged Lightspeed with her shoulder, affection in the gesture, “it was nice. We sure missed out on a lot of stuff, huh?”

 

“It’s what happens when we take a break.”

 

Despite the harsh words, Julie’s tone was light, clearly not intending the words to be harmful in anyway, not that Karolina took offense to the words. The pair had gotten everything out over lunch and had spent the rest of the day enjoying each other’s company, bringing them back to the beginnings of their relationship, before the Abigail situation (Julie briefly mentioned that Abigail was now under surveillance, alongside Doctor Hayes, in case both did anything of ‘important’ note). Over the course of the day, both parties realized how much they missed each other, and relished in how smooth the day had been going, not ready to ruin the recently repaired relationship. Instead, the blondes settled into a comfortable silence while they walked the length of the park back to the hostel. It was rather late at night and the stars were unusually bright, brightening the sky, which drew the attention of Karolina. Who stared up with awe and utter fascination, eyes wide like a child, while Julie starred up ahead, at the dirt road and dark trees, listening to the sound of the dirt road crunching underneath their sneakers.

 

Stopping at the front of the hostel, Karolina admittedly didn’t wanted to go in just yet. Their day (was it a date?) had been going so well and she didn’t want it to end. Judging by the look on Julie’s face, she didn’t want it to end either.

 

“Hey-”

 

“Karo-”

 

The blondes looked at each other before bursting out in laughter, cheeks flushed. Julie placed a hand on Karolina’s shoulder, steadying herself as the laughter died down, “I’m going to be here for a few more weeks if you want to meet up again.”

 

Not trusting herself, Karolina merely nodded, cheeks still red from laughing. Leaning forward, Karolina pecked Julie on the cheeks before walking into the hostel. Julie turned to walk back to her car when a head poked out from the door.

 

“Hey, Julie!”

 

The girl jumped, turning around to see Gert’s smug face. She heard a yell and a crash from within the hostel, making her raise an eyebrow in suspicion and concern.

 

Gert shrugged, “don’t worry about that! Karo said good night and that she’ll text you soon!”

 

A blonde head peeled out from above Gert, arms wrapped around her neck in a mock headlock and dragged the laughing girl back inside, slamming the door closed.

 

Julie huffed, resisting the urge to laugh again. Shaking her head, she turned around and continued her walk back to her car.

 

* * *

 

  


Fingers furiously tapped against the keyboard, the only light in the room coming from the multiple screens that surround the young man. Stopping briefly to clean his glasses, the young man in question returned to typing lines of code on the screen, lighting them up with black stripes.

 

The ground shook as one of the many stacks of boxes fell, books and magazines falling onto the floor, but he kept typing, intent on finishing his code. Sweat ran down his dark face as he forced his fingers to type faster, the sound of fingers smashing onto the keyboard joining in with the rumbling from outside the room.

 

Quickly finishing the last of his codes, the computer geek pulled the flash drive out and shoved into his pockets, just as a red-purple head crashed into the room, baring its teeth. Stumbling back, the dark-skinned man grabbed his bag from next to the door, watching the monster sniff around, beady yellow eyes darting around. Trying to be quiet, the man cringed when the door made a creaking noise as he opened it, drawing the attention of the monster.

 

“ **PRIDE!”**

 

“Goddamnit…”

 

Taking the chance, the dark skinned man dashed out climbing over the fallen bookshelf and out from a small space between the head and the hole in his wall, landing on his back. It was at that moment did he realize how large the creature was… and that he had two other heads. The creature roared swinging its tail around to hit the tiny human in it back. Sliding down the body, the man dashed towards the sewers, hoping its smell would cover his scent. Turning to take a look, he saw the monster’s heads trained on him as it bolted after him into the sewers.

 

Dropping down into the sewer system, a few turns distracted the large beast and allowed the human some minutes of rest. Pulling out his laptop, he quickly booted it up and looked up a location on the map. Jotting it down, the man took off his dirty clothes and put on a fresh shirt and grey jacket, tossing his old clothing into the dirty water. Hearing a roar in the back, the man ran in the opposite direction, in the direction of the hostel, ignoring how the shadows in the sewer system seemed to dance, stretching into the shape of a man, gold eyes following him until he turn another corner.

 

“Guess it’s time for a little reunion, eh?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next week's chapter we get back on pace with the comics! That's right, we're back to it and of course, we will be introducing an OG member of the runaways, but who? *wink wink*


	10. A Break for Dancing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Pride Everyone!
> 
> I thought, 'what better way to celebrate pride month than with a chapter' am I right lol?
> 
> Anyway, this chapter will put us back on track with the comics, starting from issue #12, which I will break into two chapters, one focusing on Karolina and the other one Gert and Victor, so that I can develop Karolina's relationship with Julie and Get's love triangle a bit more without mushing it into one chapter!
> 
> Hope you enjoy and once again, happy pride month!

“What’s up, Old Lace?”

 

Karolina was having a nice nap on the couch when a wet and cold nose nudged her to wake up. Old Lace’s large eyes blinked at her and rumbled in delight when the human awoke. Pulling at her shirt, Old Lace beckoned Karolina to follow with a series of chirps, practically skipping up the steps as Karolina stumbled after the dinosaurs, still under the effects of sleep.

 

Waiting in front of a door, Old Lace nudged Karolina in, her tongue sticking out like a dog’s. The blonde pat the dinosaur’s head before peeking into the room. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, still the same bedroom with the red carpet, although there was some odd glitter-like purple dust shimmering on the carpet. The room did look brighter for some reason and when Karolina looked up to find the source, she was surprised that the light was not artificial. In fact, it looked  _ and  _ felt like sunlight.

 

“Surprise!”

 

Letting out a yelp, the blonde looked to the side to see Chase, Gert, Molly and Victor in a dark corner of the room, Chase having the biggest grin on his face she’s ever seen. Strutting up to Karolina, Chase gestured to the ceiling, “you like it? We got it made just for you, all natural sunlight, a few mirrors and a scroll from Nico’s collection (A/N: LOL I didn’t forget about this, throwback to chapter 4) and we have sun! Now you can move in!”

 

“I… move in?”

 

Sensing Karolina’s hesitation, Molly pouted, “you don’t want to?” The poor girl looked like she was ready to cry, brown eyes shimmering and lips trembling and Karolina was quick to correct her, “no! I mean, yes! I do want to move in, but uh…” Rubbing her arm, Karolina took a deep breath, “it’s just, I have to go to a dinner party with Julie and I totally forgot to get a dress for it. Our relationship’s been going great these past few days and I don’t want to ruin it.” 

 

Gert narrowed her eyes, suddenly suspicious, “what’s the dinner party for, K?”

 

“The… Dean Foundation?”

 

“The Dean Foundation?! The same one your parents made when they were, oh I don’t know, killing those kids?! What are you thinking Karolina?” Gert scowled, placing her hands on her hips, Molly and Chase only stood in shock. 

 

Karolina was quick to defend herself, protesting passionately, “It’s not like that! That Dean Foundation has actually done some good, all legally and it's had a positive impact on the community. It’s one of the only things that survived Pride and I’m expected to make an appearance. I bailed out the last two years already, I bail out this year and people will think there’s something going on, adding on to the fact that I'm a member of the board now. Plus, Julie’s already agreed to go with me as my date. Forget the Foundation for a second, I still need to find a dress. I know you guys put a lot of work into this and I really want to appreciate this, but the celebration will have to wait.”

 

Scowling, Gert pushed past Karolina, stomping down the stairs, Chase and Gert following after her, leaving only Molly and Karolina in the new sun room. Padding over to the bed, Karolina flopped face first into the mattress, huffing and pouting. Molly rolled her eyes, and jumped onto the bed, nudging the blonde with her foot. Karolina grunted and swatted the foot away, “leave me alone, Molly. I’m not in a good mood right now.”

 

Determined, the mutant pulled Karolina up by the shoulders, ignoring the yelp of surprise and practically dragged her out into the hallway, “come on, Princess Rainbows, I bet we can find you a dress to wear, maybe one you have stashed away that you never wore.” Molly’s brown eyes lit up as a devious plot began to take shape in the young teen’s mind, “I wanna try a new hairstyle on you since Victor doesn’t have the hair for a Barbie makeover anymore.”

 

Karolina groaned but allowed herself to be dragged away by the thirteen year old. Best entertain the girl if she wanted to leave with an acceptable haircut, preferably one that doesn’t her hair look like noodles, like last time.

 

* * *

 

 

“You know what Molly? I think this isn’t too bad, I kind of like it.”

 

It was true, what Karolina said, all glammed up stunningly with a white-to-red gradient dress with a floral design and constellations (she forgot that she had bought this dress in a spur of the moment thing and hid it in her closet), blonde hair done up in an elaborate braid that resembled a bow near the top of her head, which Molly thought looked hilariously cute when she decided to weave stars into her hair when Karolina wasn’t paying attention. Completing the look with some silver earrings and her signature bracelets, the blonde had to admit: she looked  _ good _ .

 

Molly puffed out her chest with pride, “I told you to trust me. I didn’t just do a good job, I did an amazing job.”

 

Not wanted to stroke Molly’s ego, Karolina laughed and ruffled the girl’s hair, hearing Chase call out that Julie was waiting outside for her. Turning to Molly, Karolina smiled, pinching the girl’s cheeks, “I owe you one, Molly.”

 

“Good luck on your date!”

Julie smiled, reaching out to hug Karolina when she stepped out of the hostel, taking a moment to appreciate how beautiful Karolina looked tonight, the said blonde doing the same. Julie’s dress wasn’t as extravagant as her date but no less beautiful: a simple garnet strapless dress coupled with a black leather jacket and heels. Silver studs and black choker completed the business-casual look that Karolina thinks Julie wears very well. There was something about Julie tonight that Karolina could figure: maybe it was the way her body looked more relaxed or the way her smiled seemed more genuine. Whatever it was, Karolina didn’t want it to go away.

 

“Karolina?”

 

Blinking, the blonde snapped out of her thoughts, feeling Julie’s eyes watching her inquisitively.The girl had not said a word for the past five minutes and wouldn’t stop staring at Julie, which both unnerved and flattered her at the same time. Placing a hand on Karolina’s shoulder, Julie smiled, “you alright? You haven't said anything this entire time. If you don't want to go to the charity event, we don't have to.” Realizing what her silence was doing, Karolina blushed, quick to correct Julie, “no! It’s not that I don’t want to go, it’s just that… you look beautiful.”

 

“Oh. Well, thank you.” Now it was Julie’s turn to blush, not expecting herself to be the reason that Karolina was stunned into silence. Both girls smiled shyly at each other before Julie offered her hand to Karolina and led her to her car.

 

“You think the event will have some nice people and not some crusty old man eyeing us?”

 

“Julie!”

 

* * *

 

 

_ So far so good. _

 

The event, as always, went smoothly. People chatted, dined, and donated money to the cause. Despite being on the board now, Karolina felt that her presence didn’t make too much of a difference. Sure, the guests (particularly the men) donated more this year compared to the last two years, but it was for a good cause and if she needed to suck up to boring old men while they drone on and on about some golf thing they did with so and so, then she’d do it (of course, she had to constantly remind herself not to look too uninterested in the conversation.)

 

Having Julie by her side certainly helped things.

 

A nudge here, a well-timed joke there and already, Julie had some of the board members eating out of her hand, which immensely impressed Karolina, who struggled throughout the night to keep herself in the loop of the conversation. Like right now, half listening to Jonathan Richards (one of her father’s long time friends, or something like that) talk about his recent mountain climbing trip with his wife, Julie nowhere to be seen, having gone off to the bathroom. Forcing herself to nod here and there to make it seem like Karolina was listening, she was in fact looking for an excuse to leave the group. Just as she was about to use the excuse to use the bathroom, something from the corner of her eye caught her attention. A tall man dressed in a completely white suit was staring at her from across the room, familiar golden eyes clouded with apprehension. When Karolina blinked, the man was gone, startling the blonde.

 

_ How can someone wearing so much white disappear like that? _

 

Taking the opportunity to finally leave the conversation, Karolina weaved through the sea of guests to the area where the man had stood. Looking around for a figure in white, Karolina spots the man on the balcony, looking out into the city. Pushing past some of the slightly more intoxicated guests, Karolina steps out and breathed in the fresh air, frowning when she noticed that the man is gone again, a note left on the railing. Picking up the paper, the blonde unfolds it and inspects the single line written in a messy cursive, as if the person didn’t have enough time to write it out:  _ they come tonight. Be ready.  _ Karolina’s heart stopped, a cold feeling washing over her. She was now certain who the man was and what the implications of this message meant. But now, stuck at the charity ball, what is she supposed to do, not knowing who the enemy even is?

 

“Karolina?”

 

Jumping at the sound, Karolina crumpled the paper and turned to face the person calling her, hoping that her clenched fist doesn’t look too suspicious. Julie frowned, concerned by her girlfriend’s behavior but asked instead, “are you ready to go? It looks like it’s just the old guys drinking themselves to death.” Forcing a smile on her face, Karolina nodded, walking out of the party with Julie. Julie glanced at Karolina several time the ride back to the hostel, sure that there was something wrong, but eventually let the odd behavior go. They were having a good night, Julie surely wasn’t going to ruin that.

 

Parking the car near the hostel’s front door, Julie reached out to hug Karolina and kissing Karolina on the cheek, causing the girl to blush and smile bashfully.

 

“It was fun, wasn’t it?”

 

Karolina chuckled, “yeah, even though there were some ‘crusty old men’.” Laughing with Karolina, Julie leaned in, her nose brushing against Karolina, “I hope our next date isn’t an overly formal ball with old men looking at us like we’re the entree, yeah? Maybe you can come visit me in New York.”

 

“That sounds nice.”

 

Glancing down at Julie’s lips, Karolina wondered why it suddenly felt like they were on their first date and felt a surge of courage course through her body. Licking her suddenly dry lips, Karolina leaned in, watching for Julie to pull back (she couldn’t  keep the smile off her face when Julie didn’t pull back). Just as their lips were about to touch, a crash breaks them apart, both girls turning to look at the source of the noise. Karolina’s eyes widen when a familiar figure walked into the light, leaning against the wall as he struggles to catch his breath.

 

“What the- Alex?”

 

“Hey there, Karolina.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooo, welcome Alex into the story! For the most part, his role isn't changing too much from the fic to the comic counterpart, maybe a tad bit more like an asshole in my fic, but don't worry, Chase will knock him down a bit lol.
> 
> Also I'm terrible at writing romance but bear with me, I'll get better!
> 
> Next chapter will be the same issue, but with the focus on Gert and Victor (and Chase indirectly)!


	11. Somewhere with the Butterflies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Karolina and Julie were having fun at the charity gala, Gert and Victor were off butterfly hunting.
> 
> And maybe doing a little soul searching as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is guys: the second half of the legendary issue #12!
> 
> I didn't change too much of the scene, only small things here and there, I hope you enjoy!

 

“Gert! Gert!”

 

Gert looked up from the time machine, spotting Victor flying over to where she was. Sighing, Gert rested her head on her arms, ignoring the cyborg, which confused Victor.

 

“What’s wrong Gert?”

 

“This.”

 

The cyborg raised an eyebrow, “what’s this? I don’t mean like this time machine, but the ‘this’ you’re talking about.” Truth to be told, Victor had a sinking suspicion as to what his friend was talking about, but he needed to make sure. Gert turned her head to look at her companion, “just this, I guess. Hearing Karolina carry on her parents’s legacy made me think of mine. This time machine,” she patted the rusty metal frame, letting the sound echo in the spacious garage, “was my parents, but I have no idea how to use it. I just… I guess I want to do something.” Gert let out a sigh, turning away from the cyborg.

 

Victor tried to lighten up the mood by joking, “time-travel is a pain though, Gert. Even breathing could cause the timeline to break up.”

 

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that.”

 

Victor paused, “hm?” Sighing again, Gert leaned forward, “we, as in the group, probably already messed up the timeline, bringing me back from the past and future me coming back here and don’t even get me started with my parents. Who knows, they could’ve came from the future or the past, looking at my dad’s mustache. Whatever “timeline” that exists, I’m sure it’s just as messed up as all the things we’ve seen and done, why else would it have not changed anything when I was brought to the future. I’m still technically dead, we still got rid of the Second Pride, nothing’s changed. Maybe this “timeline” business hat everyone keeps talking about is exactly that: just nonsense.”

 

Victor blinked, soaking in the thought, “those… are actually good points, Gert.” Huffing, Gert sat up, “all I’m saying is, we have a time machine and instead of using it, we leave it here in the dusty garage like some trophy!” That got Victor thinking about the vibranium core Doombot brought a few weeks ago. If he can get Gert to wire it to the time machine, then theoretically…

 

Victor smirked up at Gert, who looked less than pleased at whatever Victor has planned, “what if I told you I know a way to get the time machine to jump?”

 

 

* * *

“So I wire this to this…”

 

“Careful Gert, that one should be on the other side.”

 

“You sure this will work Victor? It sure doesn’t look like it’ll do anything, besides fry the time machine.” Gert looked at the time machine, with the vibranium core haphazardly taped to the core of the time machine. Even though they spent an hour wiring it and making sure the core would’t spontaneously explode, Gert wasn’t too sure of the success rate, even after asking Victor to triple check his theoretical probability. 

 

Victor resisted the urge to roil his eyes, opting to land on the ratty leather seats of the time machine, “trust me Gert, this’ll work, I wouldn’t put us in danger just to get this working. What’s the point of getting a time machine to work if there’s no one to use it, am I right?” If he had a body, Victor would’ve puffed his chest out in pride seeing Gert crack a smile at his attempt at humor. Humming a tune, Victor realized that he never asked where Gert wanted to go now that the time machine was working. When the cyborg asked, the time travelers’s daughter shrugged, “I always wanted to see the Californian Blue. Supposedly, they were as big as your hand and glowed in the dark. They used to migrate through California before humanity took over the land and made it their playground. As a kid, I always wanted to see them, you know?”

 

“Do you know what time period to find them in though, Gert?”

 

Smiling bemusedly, Gert sat down, pulling out a worn leather book from under the seat, “there was a guy that documented their migration pattern in the 1860’s…”

 

“Then let’s go butterfly hunting.”

 

* * *

  
  


“You sure we got the right time period, Gert?”

 

“Pretty sure, I triple checked the date before we jumped.”

 

Victor did his best to check the meadow they plopped into, though his range of sight was rather limited due to his current situation, brows furrowing when he spotted no butterflies, “I don’t see any butterflies…” Picking up the cyborg, Gert jumped out of the time machine, finding a tree stump to rest her companion’s head, “the butterflies are nocturnal, we won’t see them until later. This should be the night their migration was recorded, so I’m fairly confident this is the place.”

 

“You know, I didn’t think you were a butterfly person Gert.”

 

Gert paused, taking a moment to think of an answer, “I’m not a butterfly person to be honest. But I did spend all my time in third grade reading about extinct animals and I guess, I just really wanted to see them before people showed up and ruined our chances to experience having them around.”

 

Victor nodded, accepting her answer. He turned to look down at the flower field, marveling at the orange-red petals, “how long do you think we’ll be here, Gert?”

 

Gert shrugged, laying down to watch the clouds go by, “maybe an hour, at most.”

 

* * *

 

 

Turns out Gert was wrong, what was supposed to be one hour turned into two hours and in those two hours, no butterflies were seen. Watching the orange sky turn dark, Gert groaned, “this was a bad idea, we should’ve gone to kill Hitler instead.” Instead of an amusing quip from the cyborg, Gert didn’t hear anything. When she turned to look at Victor, he was looking away with an unreadable look on his face.

 

Confused, Gert sat up, “Victor?”

 

“That’s what you did though, Gert. Your future self coming back to warn the others about me.”

 

Gert reached a hand out to comfort Victor, “Victor, that wasn’t you. It was an evil version of you that we’ve stopped. He doesn’t exist anymore.” Gert’s words were meant to comfort the cyborg, but they only made him more uneasy, “doesn’t mean it’s not a part of me, Gert. You don’t believe that you can mess up the timeline, I don't believe that you can separate me from what I am.

 

Face it Gert. I am  _ Victorious _ , whether it be today or tomorrow, I will become him.”

 

“Victor, no, you’re not evil.”

 

“You can’t say that. You don’t know me.”

 

“Like hell I don’t Victor. I’m your friend.”

 

Victor closed his eyes in an attempt to stop the tears from running, “No you don’t! If you all knew the truth, you would run away from me!”

 

_ The truth?  _ Alarmed by Victor’s behavior, Gert sat up and propped the head on top of a tree stump, “tell me. What happened to you while we were separated.” When Victor looked away with a painful grimace on his face, Gert pressed for answers, “Victor…”

 

“When you… died, the Avengers put me on a mission. A mission just for me, they said. I was supposed to spy on one of Ultron’s creations, Vision.”

 

Tears flooded Victor’s brown eyes as he remembered what he did that day, “Vision treated me like a brother and I repaid that kindness by killing his son.”

 

Gert gaped, “you killed his son?”

 

Nodding, the cyborg continued to tell his story through his tears, “he- he was going to blow my cover and I tried to stop him by holding him with my powers. But the vibranium… it did something to my powers and I killed him. His name was Vin and I killed him.”

 

Sobbing, Victor looked up at Gert, “I just wanted to hold him, and I killed him.”

 

“Oh Victor,” Gert leaned down and pressed her forehead against the cyborg’s, comforting him while he cried, “what you did wasn’t evil, you made a mistake, that doesn’t make you evil.”

 

“It doesn’t make it right!”

 

“You’re right, it doesn’t. But it doesn’t make you someone you’re not.”

 

Gert rubbed soothing circles on Victor’s cheek as the cyborg cried out his guilt and grief. There was no need to say anything because nothing Gert says will change what had happened, but the least she could do was offer her shoulder to cry on.

 

As Victor's sobbing died down, a shimmer of blue passed by the corner of Gert’s eyes. When she picked her head up, she gasped in shock at what she saw.

 

“Victor…”

 

Beautiful, shimmering California Blues fluttered about, forming a shining arch over Gert and Victor’s heads as the butterflies flew over the field. They stared in awe at the beautiful butterflies, smiles on their faces.

 

“Gert.. can I-will you…

 

“Hmm?” Gert hadn’t been paying attention, content on watching the butterflies migrate when Victor looked up at her, an indecipherable smile on his face.

 

“Kiss me.”

 

_ Oh. _ Well, that was a surprise and it clearly showed on Gert’s face, but in a blink of an eye, she turned away, “you don’t have to kiss me because I said you weren’t a murderer, you know.” Victor frowned, he didn’t know if Gert was uncomfortable with what he had said, but studying the frown on Gert’s face, he knew what she was thinking, and the cyborg was quick to correct her.

 

_ Insecurities be damned,  _ “Gert, Look at me.” Confused, Gert lifted the cyborg up so they were face to face.

 

“I like you. That’s the reason why I want to kiss you, not because you told me that I wasn’t a murderer. You make me feel things I shouldn’t be feeling as a robot. When I’m with you, I feel like a person and not a mass of wires and parts. I forget that I killed someone because you don’t treat me any different. Hell, I forget that I’m a cyborg when I’m with you. You make me whole, Gert.”

 

Gert could only stare in awe, which Victor took as a ‘no’, much to his disappointment, “we don’t have to do it if you don’t want to! We can just be like this-”

 

“What if I want to though?”

 

_ Oh. _

 

Blinking, Victor smiled, cheeks flushed, Gert being the same. He’s not sure who leaned in or who initiated the kiss (he’s pretty sure Gert did), but the moment their lips touched, he felt his circuits go into overdrive. Gert’s lips were soft and tasted like strawberries and Victor never wanted it to end. When they pulled apart, they smiled at each other, face red, content at the now, not a care in the world.

 

Around them, the butterflies fluttered by, lighting the night up in shimmering blue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, we were officially finished with the iconic and well-loved issue 12. I hope you all enjoyed the changes I made! Next chapter will explore the group's dynamic now that an original member has rejoined the team and how the loss of one member has affected another!
> 
> Wonder how the Gibborim will take it when they find out someone is missing?


	12. Wouldn't You Know Where to Begin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex Wilder is dead, or rather should be dead.
> 
> Karolina doesn't know what to do with this information.
> 
> Chase doesn't seem to happy to see his old friend, but then again he did betray them.
> 
> Oh, and he brought a present for all of them when he shouldn't have.
> 
> Like really shouldn't have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, another chapter, this one covers issue #13 and you know what that means: the Giborrim are introduced! Writing their dialogue was quite a challenge because I wanted them to have an unique type of speech, like they do in the comics, but I think I got it down!
> 
> Also, I would like to announce something exciting that I am a part of: the Runaways Big Bang Project! It's a project where writes, artists, and beta reader get together to create a big bang of Runaways fics and art in anticipation of season 3. I encourage all of you who write, art, or just have a passion for this fandom, both comic and TV show, to take part in this project! Here is the link to the tumblr page if anyone is interested: https://runawaysbigbang.tumblr.com/

 

Alex Wilder should be dead,  _ is  _ dead. They saw him die.

 

Yet, here he is, standing in front of Karolina, the same sixteen year old boy that was their leader, and betrayed them.

 

“How are you here? we saw you die.” Feeling uneasy about Alex’s sudden appearance, Karolina stepped behind Julie, who watched the two former teammates with a critical eye, in an attempt to put some distance between them. Luckily, Alex got the message and stayed where he was, but his brown eyes scanned the surrounding area as though he was looking for something.

 

“It’s complicated Dean, I’ll explain later. Right now I need your help. There’s something chasing me. Please, Karolina.”

 

Julie doesn’t know the whole story, but she knows enough about Alex to put herself into the conversation, “you’re the one who betrayed Karolina and her friends,  _ your _ friends. How can we be sure that this isn’t another plot to betray them again?”

 

“This doesn’t concern you. Who are you anyway?”

 

“It does concern me when you’re the person that almost got my girlfriend killed all those years ago.”

 

“You don’t know the whole story. I did it for my family, you wouldn’t understand.”

 

“You’re right about that. I would’ve remembered who my real family were, the ones who truly loved me.”

 

“You have no Idea what I went through.”

 

The argument between Alex and Julie was getting increasingly heated and Karolina was trying her best to be the mediator. Fortunately, the argument was cut short when Chase, followed by Molly opened the front door. When Chase’s blue eyes landed on Alex, there was no surprise in them, as though Chase knew that Alex wasn’t dead.

 

However, that doesn’t mean they didn’t burn with anger as the blond man glared at his former friend.

 

“Julie, thanks for bringing Karolina back, but I think you should go.”

 

Said blonde wasn’t too pleased at the request, quickly protesting, “Chase-”

 

“Just. Go.”

 

Blinking in surprise at the harsh tone, Julie turned to Karolina, who just shook her head, silently begging Julie to not fight Chase on this. They had seen Chase angry before, but never have they seen this side of Chase before. Unwilling to cause a scene, Julie kissed Karolina’s cheek and drove off, looking back at the group until they were too far into the distance.

 

Once Chase was sure that Julie was far enough, he turned his attention back to Alex, who Molly and Old lace were poking and sniffing respectively.

 

Alex tried not to squirm under the intense gaze of Chase, telling him the same thing he told Karolina, “Chase, I need help. Please, something is coming after me, I think It’s looking for Pride.” He had hoped that Chase would still have it in him to help.

 

Alex couldn’t have been more wrong when Chase snarled, “hope they get you off my property then. You’re nothing but trouble, Wilder.”

 

Alex gulped, feeling the ground tremble with his pursuer’s heavy steps, “you want to try to say that to its face, or should I say faces?”

 

A roar sounded in the distance that was too close to the Hostel when suddenly, a three headed monster crashed into the Hostel’s garage, its steps creating craters on the concrete. The purple beast was large, almost reaching the Hostel’s ceiling with rows of sharp teeth and covered in a rough, jagged layer of scaly armor. Sniffing the air, the three heads looked down onto the group, roaring in triumph at having found its targets.

 

**“PRIDE!”**

 

Alex turned to his former friends, the shaky, scared man turning into the calm, arrogant tactician he used to be, “we can talk later, first we have to get rid of this thing.”

 

Snapping off her bracelet, Karolina was already in the air when Alex commanded Molly to throw the car at the monster. Following this, Karolina shot a blast of concentrated light at the monster, but, in an effort to minimize the damage, the creature split itself into three entities, each running off in a different direction to attack. Narrowly dodging a swipe from one of the creatures, Karolina turned to look at Alex, “what do we do?!”

 

“Concentrate on their eyes! Molly, keep hitting them! Chase, burn them down!”

 

As each of them followed Alex’s orders, swiftly knocking the three monsters into a corner, where they crouched low to the ground to cover their soft underbelly. Chase’s flames and Karolina’s light kept the beasts from attacking and Molly took the opportunity to gleefully wack at their heads if they came to close. Smirking, Alex turned to look behind him, “Nico-”

 

_ Nico? _

 

Hearing the witch’s name, Karolina lost her concentration, creating a small window for one of the creatures, the dark blue dinosaur-like one, to jump out, its mouth open to swallow karolina. Luckily, Old lace and Rufus jumped to her aid, latching their teeth onto the monster’s throat, giving Karolina enough time to fly away.

 

However, in the chaos, the other two monsters managed to push past Molly and Chase, rushing with their jaws open towards Alex, who tried to put some distance between them.

 

“Karolina, Molly, Chase, keep them back!”

 

“What do you think we’re doing Wilder?!”

 

Molly and Karolina were trying to keep them back, pulling at their tails and chains, but, even with Molly’s strength, the powerful beasts we still making their way closer to where Alex was. Even Old Lace and Rufus joined in, hoping them biting the monsters’ underside would cause them to shift their attention away from Alex, but they didn’t seem to notice teeth sinking into their soft flesh.

 

“Chase, what the hell are you doing?!”

 

“Give me a second, I have something!”

 

Had they looked back to where Chase was, they would’ve seen him fumbling around with a scroll and a small vial of purple dust, sighing in relief with the scroll burned away.

 

The monsters were so close to Alex that he could feel them breathing down on him. As a shadow loomed down onto him, he closed his eyes in fear. Suddenly the shadow moved away, one of the monsters yelp as the clanking of chains echoed in the garage. When Alex opened his eyes, he gaped at the scene in front of him.

 

The monsters had a thick metal muzzle on their jaws that connected to the binding on their neck, arms, and legs. Chains broke through the concrete floor to hold them in place as the beast thrashed around, trying to break free.

 

Molly huffed, wiping the sweat off her face, “D-did we win?” Taking in the bound creatures, Molly grinned, looking at Chase for confirmation. The blonde man smiled, patting Old Lace’s head, who purred, “yeah, yeah we won, Molly.”

 

“We need to be better prepared for next time. Today was good, but still very sloppy.”

 

_ And there’s the party pooper _ , Chase turned Alex, growling, “there’s no next time with you traitor. Get the hell out of my house.” Alex wasn’t too impressed with Chase’s outburst, but still kept his cool, “this isn’t over yet. We still need to know what these monsters are and why they were after us.”

 

“After you, not us. They only came after us because you were here. To be honest, I don’t blame them for trying to eat you.”

 

“So you’re just going to leave them here? How typical of you.”

 

“Yeah? Well, it’s pretty typical of you to come running back to us every time you have a problem so I guess we’re even, traitor.”

 

If that last point did hurt Alex, he certainly didn’t show it, only snarkily replying back, “it’s a miracle you survived all these years.”

 

Chase glanced back at Alex, blue eyes stone cold, “It helps when I’m not around a bastard who tried to kill me.”

 

That seem to offend Alex, as he turned to his former friends, trying to justify his actions, “I wasn’t trying to kill you guys!”

 

This time, Karolina spoke up, “actually, Alex… you did try to kill us.”

 

“The Gibborim were going to kill most of the world. Only six were going to survive, can you honestly blame me for making sure that three of the six were my family?”

 

Nobody hesitated when they all shouted yes in unison, clearly frustrated that Alex still thought it was okay.

 

“There were six of us, you take three, I guess leaving us to fight over the other three wouldn’t me two of us would be killed to you? Alex, you’re supposed to be smart, but I guess you forgot about giving a damn if you’re parents survive.”

 

“I had to remember my loyalty to my parents! You would’ve done the same!”

 

Chase scowled, not liking being compared to Alex, “I would’ve saved my friends, not the people who murders countess people to keep some gods alive!”

 

The boys looked ready to engage in a fist fight when suddenly the ground shook again, the beasts wiggling around and looking around. A large, greenish hand appeared from the shadows to calm the beasts down. Judging by how large the hand was, Alex assumed that whoever they were, they were just as tall as the monsters.

 

“ **Good hunting, loyal beasts. Your dedication to our cause will be rewarded.** ”

 

Three enormous, alien-like being stepped out from the shadows, one female and two males. The grey skinned female looked the most normal of the three, long black hair tied in a braid along with a green and gold attire consisting of a form fitting shirt, shorts and knee length heels. Her companions were more unique, the one to her right was a green goblin-like man with piercings and an open red jumpsuit and the one to her left was blue skinned with a goatee, long arms that were wrapped in cloth, and a long blue robe. Molly took one look at them and instantly recognized them, eyes widening in shock.

 

“It’s not possible, you’re all supposed to be dead.”

 

The trio looked down at the humans and the female stepped forward, eyes flickering from one person to the other.

 

“ **Finally, we have found the Pride. We are here to collect our debt.** ”

 

Chase frowned, confused, “we’re not the Pride, they’re gone. Besides, you don’t have your magician anyway.”

 

“ **That we know. No matter, we will make do with what we are given. We sensed the Impure One, she still lives. We will deal with her. For now,** ” the Gibborim turned their hungry gaze down onto Chase, “ **You will provide us with--** ”

 

A blue glow light up the garage as the Yorkes’s time machine materialized in front of the Gibborim, Gert and Victor stepping out. Noticing the huge shadow on the ground, Gert looked up into the Gibborim’s eyes. If she was surprised to see them, she didn’t show it.

 

“Who let the Gibbor-wrecks come back?”

 

The female Gibborim didn’t take the insult lightly, glaring down at Gert, “ **we are the seed of Giborrim, and we are here to take was is owed to us!** ”

 

“Well, look elsewhere, ‘seed’. We’re not the Pride, your parents killed them.”

 

This time, the blue skinned one spoke up with his slitherly voice, “ **wrong, Time Traveler. You killed them. We are simply her to claim our birthright.** ”

 

“You guys have no birthright.”

 

“ **This planet is our birthright!** ”

 

Rolling her eyes, Gert turned around, tired of arguing, and was surprised to see Alex standing there with her friends, “Wilder’s here too? Does anybody dead stay dead?”

 

Chuckling awkwardly, Alex took a step forward, “it’s complicated, Yorkes,” turning to address the three gods, Alex asked, “this planet is ours to give, seed of Giborrim. What is it to really want from us?”

 

“ **The same thing our predecessor asked: sacrifice.** ”

 

Alex gulped, unable to hide his fear, but still boldly asked, “and if we say no?”

  
“ **Then we will find those willing to form the new Pride and you will become our first sacrifice.** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, we are officially 13 issues in! I'm so proud of myself for actually having the courage to write this and so thankful for all the support I've gotten. You guys are awesome!!!!
> 
> Next chapter, we may be spilling some juicy secrets and a potential conflict within the group! Stay tuned for that!
> 
> Once again, if anyone had any interest in participating in the Runaways Big Bang, the link to the tumblr page is here:   
>  https://runawaysbigbang.tumblr.com/


	13. NOT A CHAPTER

Hey guys, as the title says, this is not a chapter!

 

I know I talked about this in the last chapter, but I would like to dedicate a chapter (well it's not really a chapter) to it:

 

I am part of a Runaways Big Bang project that we are doing in anticipation for season 3 and we are looking for writers, artists, and beta readers. We want to, essentially, create a big bang of content for the fandom and show our love and support for the show and the comics.

 

Any character, any pairing, any Aus (all of course, subject to some restrictions) are welcome, let your imagination go wild!

 

If you or anyone you know is interested, please go to this tumblr page: [Runaways Big Bang Project](https://runawaysbigbang.tumblr.com/)

 

The tumblr page will have all the information, including timeline and signups, so I encourage to check it out and sign up, or help spread the word!

 

 


	14. When it All Sinks in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gods in front of them were not the same gods that terrorized them in their youth.
> 
> But that doesn't make them any less annoying.
> 
> or less entitled either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back?
> 
> I apologize for not uploading a new chapter these past few weeks, school and work have been keeping me busy.
> 
> That being said, I hope this chapter makes up for the absence!
> 
> Reminder: the Runaways Big Bang writer sign up is closing soon, if you're interesting in participating, please visit the tumblr page, which I will leave here: https://runawaysbigbang.tumblr.com/
> 
> If you can't participate, that's totally fine, you can still help by spreading the word out!

 

The giants in front of them were not the original gods their parents met and made sacrifices.

 

No, these were the children, and they weren’t taking a ‘no’ as an answer.

 

“ **Our parents promised us this planet. We will take it whether you want to help us or not!** ”

 

Oh yeah, they're also pretty entitled.

 

Gert rolled her eyes, holding Victor securely with one hand, “yeah, well, you shouldn’t believe everything your parents tell you. So you didn’t get what you wanted, deal with it.”

 

The gods merely scowled, offended, “ **your parents were the one who ruined everything. As their blood, you will finish what they started.** ”

 

“And why should we?”

 

“ **If you do not help us, your souls will be the first of the many we will consume, human.** ”

 

Molly rolled up her sleeves, “I’m taking my chances!”

 

The female god scoffed, waving a hand dismissively, “ **we may be weakened right now, but we are still strong enough to kill you and killing you right now will not feed us. What is it you humans call it? ‘Empty calories?’** ”

 

Chase growled, stormy blue eyes glaring up at the Gibborim children, “if we have a choice of killing to make you strong or letting you stay weak, I’m going with option two.”

 

Deeply angered, the blue skinned god stomped his foot, “ **enough, sister-brother! It is clear that these pridelings will not listen to reason or show us the proper respect, it may not feed us, but I will take great joy in destroying them for not obeying their masters!** ” The blue skinned one reached out with his large hands to grab Molly, who stood fearfully as a large shadow loomed over her.

 

Alex took this moment to step in, stopping the god in his tracks, “Wait! Everybody calm down for a minute, I’m sure we can work this out! Gibborim Gods, what is it you are asking from us?”

 

The female god pushed her brother aside, snarling viciously, “ **we are not asking, we are demanding you finish the Rite of Thunder.** ”

 

Chase blinked, “the Rite of Thunder… you mean the ritual our parents were doing that we stopped? The one where they were going to sacrifice that girl’s soul?”

 

“ **Correct.** ”

 

Chase opened his mouth to tell the gods off, but Alex beat him to it, “we’re going to need time.”

 

_What?!_

 

None of the others were prepared to hear Alex say that, shocked that he was actually going to go ahead and help the gods. Chase looked ready to pummel Alex, Molly and Karolina gripping onto his arms while looking at Alex in concern and suspicion. Brown eyes glanced back at them, directing them to shut up while he did the talking.

 

“We can’t just throw the ritual together right now, there are things we need to prepare, the soul for one. It’s not like we were hanging onto the previous soul.”

 

The three gods paused, glancing at each other as they considered Alex’s request. Nodding, the female god turned to look down, “ **this request of time is reasonable, prideling. We will grant it. Seven rotations will be granted to acquire a new soul and then we will return.** ” Alex sighed, relieved that he was able to buy some time to figure out a plan, stiffening with the female god continued, “ **do not try to run or betray us, we will know. No, I think we need a fail safe in the event you consider betraying us. Gib!** ” Calling for her brother, the green skinned God stepped forward obediently, spear in hand. The female god grasped at the chains and pried them free, guiding her pets out, her blue skinned brother following behind, “ **Gib will be staying here… as a motivator and to ensure you do not stray from your task. Goodbye, Pridelings.** ”

 

_Well, so much for Alex’s plans._

 

**Later…**

 

“Uh guys? Do we even have a plan to deal with this? I’m going to be honest, I really don’t want to kill somebody.”

 

“None of us want to, Molly. But considering that we’re basically trapped in our own home,” Gert glanced at Gib, who had not moved from his posted at the door, Chase staring at the god with his blue eyes, “there’s not much we can do.”

 

Alex interjected, leaning forward in his chair, “yes there is, you guys aren’t taking this opportunity I’ve given to come up with something. We need to come up with something.”

 

Chase looked over his shoulders, “You’re still here, Wilder? What part of ‘ _get out'_  did you not get?”

 

“I’m in this just as much as everyone else, well, everyone except Nico, it seems. Did you not tell them what happened to her, Chase?”

 

“They don’t need to know and it’s not my business to tell or yours.”

 

Alex frowned, “it matters when gods show up and she isn’t here to help. It matters when our lives are on the line and she’s off doing whatever it is she’s doing.”

 

Chase bite his tongue from lashing out an insult, instead replying, “she has her reasons, that’s all.” In the background, the girls (plus Victor) were listening intently to the conversation. None of them knew the exact reason of Nico’s disappearance — well Victor and Karolina had an inkling about what happened— and they were eager to know more about their friend.

 

“You haven’t changed, none of you have! Instead of facing the problem that’s in front of you, you choose to run away from it, even when it’s clear we can’t! When Nico chose to run away, I saw how you didn’t stop her. When she grew obsessed with her goals, when it was clear she was being _corrupted_ , you did nothing! You didn’t even try to stop her!”

 

“Stop it…”

 

Alex suddenly stood up, eyes blazing with anger and disappointment, “I get it, you and Nico have been through a lot, but that doesn’t mean you run from your responsibilities! No, I think I’ll do one better, should I tell them what happened, Chase?”

 

“Stop…”

 

“Should I tell them what made Nico run away? Should I tell them about her—”

 

“ _S_ _TOP IT!_ ”

 

Chase, in his fury, rushed forward and punched Alex, knocking him to the ground. Getting on top of him, the blond man gripped the collar of Alex’s shirt, delivering another punch, this time on the opposite cheek, “You have no right to say anything, not after what you did! You think I didn’t try to stop her? You think I didn’t ask her to stop chasing after myths and legends? You think I didn’t tell her that enough was enough after—” Chase cut himself off, panting. Alex started, wide eyed as he reached up to straighten his glasses. His cheek throbbed with pain, but he ignored them for now in favor of watching Chase calm himself down, the girls watching from the couch, speechless.

 

Running a hand over his face, Chase turned and walked up the steps, “stick to the east wing, Wilder. I’ve seen enough of your face to last me a year.”

 

No one stopped him as he rounded the corner, though Molly followed after him to make sure he was alright, Rufus and Old Lace following behind. Reluctant to go, Karolina took to bringing a first aid kit and examining the bruises on Alex’s face.

 

“It’s not as bad as it looks. Give it a couple of days and the swelling should reduce. Chase really did a number on you, and with his fistigons too.”

 

Pressing the ice bag to his cheek, Alex shrugged, looking down, “I guess I deserved it. I might have said too much as well. But I’m not wrong, we need to be focused on coming up with a plan to get rid of the Gibborim, for good. I’m not wrong about Nico either.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“There’s… something wrong. I can’t explain it, but it doesn’t feel like her, feel like she’s human anymore. It’s complicated, I’m not sure what to think about it.”

 

Karolina paused, thinking back to Nyx’s warning: _Do not trust the man who claims himself an ally_. Is Alex the one she was talking about? If so, then what is it that he’s lying about? Could it be that Nyx knows...?

 

 _No, don’t think about that right now._ Right now, Karolina had more important things to worry about, like the imminent threat the Gods pose on her family and humanity (and also her finals, but she can worry about that tomorrow). Nodding her head in satisfaction that Alex will be fine, Karolina bid Gert, Alex and Victor a good night and went up to her room. In truth, she had a lot of things on her mind and she needed some quiet time to gather her thoughts, Nyx’s warning now fresh on her mind. Passing by Chase’s room, the blonde noticed that his door was opening slightly. Taking a chance, she peeked in to check up on her friend, who was in the midst of what seemed to be a heated discussion with someone on the phone. She didn’t notice the unusual white crow seated on his bed, blood red eyes blinking at him.

 

“I know… yes, I meant to do it… he was going… I know that… where are you right now, I can pick you up if… I mean, I guess… you want me to… that’s fine… you’re sure… but…”

 

Seeing that Chase was fine, Karolina turned and walked to her room, feeling a chill run down her spine.

 

 

* * *

 

**_Omake_ **

 

Old Lace was having the time of her life.

 

The purring dinosaur nuzzled into Gert’s lap, soaking in the warmth of her human. Chase and Gert were doing some reading, things that Old Lace can not read, so she took this opportunity to take a nap on top of her two favorite humans, only for Gert to nudge her off as she walked off, Victor close by.

 

Jostled awake by her human, the dinosaur turned and squinted at Chase, who seemed to be invested in reading his book and not at all interested in playing with Old Lace. Deciding to finding the other humans in the hopes of some attention, the dinosaur walked up the steps and down the hall to the rooms, tail swishing left and right akin to a dog wagging his tail. Nudging Karolina’s door open first, Old Lace peeked her head in, blinking at the sight of Julie and Karolina sitting crossed legged on the carpet, laughing about something. Tilting her head, Old Lace decided that the blonde was having fun with her mate and shuffled down the hall in search of Molly.

 

When she spotted Alex by Molly’s door, Old Lace growled. The traitorous human probably means to harm the child and the dinosaur would not stand for that. Stalking into the room, she curled herself around Molly, glaring at Alex, who wisely sat a few feet away. Rufus pawed that the reptile’s tail, yellow eyes blinking. Old Lace didn’t notice the cheshire-like grin on the cat’s face, but she did feel the teeth sinking into her tail. While the bite didn’t hurt, it did startle her enough to jump, causing some of the cards to fly and get scattered. Old Lace was promptly kicked out of the room by an angry Molly and a smug Rufus.

 

The dinosaur growled, she will make the tiny hairball pay. Her sensitive hearing picked up the voice of Gert from within the study room, making Old Lace perk up. Surely her human will give her some love an affection. Nudging the door open with her head, Old Lace was not surprised to see that the robot head human thing (Old Lace is still trying to figure it out, she knows it’s not food at least) is with her human. She had noticed them together more often than apart. Crossing the room and resting her head on Gert’s lap, Old Lace picked up on the oddness of their tone. Now, Old Lace can’t claim to understand, but she knew enough to know that the robot was flirting with her human, which caused her to snap warningly. She thought it would please her human that she was defending her, but it only did the opposite.

 

Kicked out of yet another room, Old Lace turned to go back downstairs, where she saw Karolina give a sandwich to the tall green godling. Stepping closer to the godling, Old Lace tilted her head as the green godling motioned her forward to him, kneeling to offer the sandwich. Delighted, Old Lace chomped down on the sandwich, deciding that the green man wasn’t all too bad and left to find Chase.

 

Peeking into Chase’s workshop, the dinosaur saw that the good human was working on something, a body for the robot head. Debating on disturbing Chase or not, Old Lace turned around and left Chase to his own devices. Having made her rounds to all the humans in the Hostel, Old Lace had planned on going back to the couch and taking a nap when a white crow flew by, landing on her head. She had seen this crow before and the owner, so the dinosaur was all too happy to follow the crow up to the last door down the hallway, the one that was marked with the magical human’s name. Usually the door was locked as Chase doesn’t want anyone going into the room, but when Old Lace bumped the door, it was unlocked.

 

Stepping into the room, Old Lace chirped a greeting at the human that stood in the middle of the room, fiddling with the black box that Chase had brought home when they went to get Molly. The dark-dressed human turned around and patted Old Lace’s head, who preened at the familiar caress.

 

The dinosaur knows she should probably tell her humans about magical one that occasionally pops in, but then again, Chase seems to already know and if Chase is okay with it, then Old Lace is too.

 

Old Lace supposes she can keep one secret. For the human’s sake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ohohohohoho, looks like it's not just the humans that are keeping secrets now, is it?
> 
> I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, especially writing from Old Lace's perspective! I think I might do more if you guys like the idea!
> 
> Next chapter is in the works, so stay tuned!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	15. Something Tragic About You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chase and Alex still don't get along, but at least they're no longer punching each other.
> 
> Gib hears the call of death and tries his best to ignore it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we are back with another chapter! This chapter was probably the hardest one to write, only because issue 15 is mostly Nico and we all know that Nico is nowhere to be found in my fic (or is she?) but I didn't want to not write something about this issue, so I made do with what I could work with and went from there.
> 
> Speaking of, it seems we're getting to the end of this fic quite fast! I had originally planned to this fic to only be 15 chapters but I think I'll expand it a little more to maybe 20, 25 chapters! Once I finish, I'll start planning a new fic.... or possibly a sequel???? 
> 
> I don't know, I haven't decided on it yet, keep an eye out for the update!
> 
> Anyway, I'm starting to rant now, so I'll shut up and let you guys get back to the story.
> 
> Enjoy!

It was completely silent in the room, save for Molly carefully pushing a gothic baby stroller down the steps, Victor’s head resting in the stroller, not at all happy at the rattles and the occasional bumps as Molly rolled the stroller down and set it next to the stairs, taking the cyborg out and resting him next to Gert.

“About that robot body…”

Chase perked up, triumph and pride gleaming in his blue eyes, “I knew you’d come around to the idea!”

“Yeah, well, I don’t have a choice anymore…” Victor mumbled, thinking no one heard him, but Gert did, as she turned to look at him, concern written on her face.

Despite the attempt at lightening up the mood, it was clear that the distraction only worked temporarily, making Chase cough awkwardly to get everyone’s attention so that they may talk about why it is they were really gathered there.

“Okay, so, we are gathered here today—”

The youngest in the group cut him off, suddenly very interested in their current location, “you know, this would be a great place to skate in. I could strap you to a board Victor and slide you around.”

“I really wish you wouldn’t, Molly.”

Even Karolina joined in, “it’s not a bad idea, since Gib won’t let us leave. We could use this pool to have some fun.”

“Guys! Focus!”

The two at least had the decency to look apologetic (Molly pouted), but they did turn their attention to Chase, who look comical in his green sweater and pink shorts (Karolina had trouble taking her friend seriously).

Coughing again, Chase started off by stating the facts, “alright, so, thanks to Victor and Gert, we’ve managed to decipher all of that Pride junk so that we won’t need to use our parents’ decoder rings.”

Karolina smiled at Victor, “nice job Vic.”

“Well, I am fluent in over six million different forms of communication.”

Gert wasn’t as optimistic, looking at Chase, “we still didn’t find anything that can stop the Gibborim though. All the books describe is how great the world will be after all humans are gone and the various ways to sacrifice humans, and we’re talking about hundreds, thousands of ‘rites’ that do the same thing.”

Karolina nodded her head in agreement, “I asked Julie to see if she can find something about the Gibborim, but so far, there’s not much to go on, at least nothing that we already don’t know about them.”

Rubbing his growing goatee in thought, Chase frowned, “we’re running out of time. If we can’t find a ritual in the books, we may need to come up with something on our own.”

“Agreed.”

Glaring up at the newcomer, Chase scowled, “what do you want, Wilder?”

“Thought I’d go for a swim. It seems that my invitation to this house meeting got lost in the mail.”

“We didn’t send you one.”

Ignoring Chase, Alex took a seat at the top of the stairs, sitting the furthest away from everyone else out of respect. Chase noted with satisfaction that Alex’s cheeks were still a little red from their little brawl.

“Figured out a way to sell us out and come to tell us?” Gert glanced back at Alex, suspicion in her eyes. She didn’t trust her former friend, even if he actually did have a plan. Gert couldn’t find herself to believe that Alex didn’t have an ulterior motive in all this and, judging by the looks on everyone else’s faces, they didn’t trust him either.

Alex held his hand up in mock surrender, “calm down Gert. Don’t you remember the last time I tried to pull something like that? I lost everything, even my own life. I don’t want history to repeat itself, trust me.” It should’ve disturbed Gert how nonchalant Alex was talking about his own death, but she was more irritated by Alex’s choice of words to care.

“You brought that upon yourself. If you’re looking for sympathy, then you came to the wrong house.”

“Gert, don’t be like that…”

Alex looked around, noting the varying expressions on everyone’s faces (cold indifference on Gert, reluctant sympathy on Molly and Karolina, confusion on Victor, and near-borderline hatred on Chase) and sighed, dejected. He realized how futile his efforts at trying to reconcile with his friends were and decided to return to the topic at hand.

“In any case, we need to come up with something if we all want to live through this. I have a few ideas but I’ll need to work out the finer details.”

But Chase wasn’t interested in hearing it, “yeah, we’re good, Wilder. If I know you, which unfortunately is yes, I know there’s a catch with all your plans, so no, I don’t want to hear it.”

“Chase, be reasonable. We don’t have time to be petty and bring up the past. We need to focus on the future.”

“Not with you here.”

Chase looked like he was going to punch Alex again, had Molly and Gert not stepped in, both girls taking one of the boys to separate corners.

“Calm down, Chase. We all don’t like him but he may have something, we should listen.”

“Seriously, Alex, stop goading Chase, do you want to get punched again?”

Karolina stood by the stairs, watching with Victor as both boys relented, though neither were ready to talk or compromise. Gert decided to hold off the meeting for another day while everyone became comfortable with the idea that Alex may have a plan, as unsettling as it sounded.

Walking back up to the first floor (Gert and Molly distracting Chase and Alex respectively do they don’t break out into a fight again), they were surprised to see that Gib was not at his usual stop by the door. Checking around the house to find no sign of Gib anywhere, they regrouped at the front door just as Gib opened and walked inside.

No one wanted to admit it, but they had actually grown quite attached to the god, but that didn’t mean they were happy to see his return. Molly took a brave step forward, crossing her arms, trying to look intimidating, “Gib, where were you?”

The Godling didn’t answer Molly, only looking down at her with an impassive stare and standing in his place by the door. When it was clear that Gib wasn’t going to answer them, they reluctantly left him alone, thinking the young god simply stepped out to take a quick breather. They didn’t notice how tight Gib was gripping his spear or the glimmer of fear in his eyes.

 

  
**Earlier…**

 

Gib watched as the pridelings descended down the stairs to wherever they were going. He should be worried, but he honestly wasn’t. The humans, up to that point had not showed much animosity towards him and they seemed to be diligent in their work. Gib knew that they were plotting him and his siblings’s demise, but he was confident that he could destroy them if he so chooses to.

But it was not the children he was afraid of. It was the being outside of the building. The godling could smell the rot and impurity through the door, could feel the cold breeze and hear the whispers in his ears.

Quietly walking towards the stairs, he saw that the children were engaged in deep conversation and decided that it would give him ample time to step out and deal with the Impure One. Ducking under the tiny door, Gib gripped his gold spear when he stopped the Impure One, noting how different she was compared to the last time he saw her.

Her attire dripped tar onto the dirt, molding into her shadows and her aura was not suppressed, oozing out menacingly. If he concentrated hard enough, Gib could see and hear the local wildlife cowering in fear and even some of the weak-willed creatures just falling dead. Even with her hood up, Gib could feel the golden eyes of the Impure One staring at him. They were hungry, angry, and shined with ambition. Raising his spear, Gib did not hesitate before striking, not at all surprised when an invisible wall stopped his weapon from piercing his target.

Standing across from him, the Impure One reached into her jacket, opening a portal, and pulled out a bag, the bottom stained brown with blood. She tossed it at Gib, who sliced it open with his spear, gaping when the head of one of his sister-brother’s prized pets fell out.

_Ah, sister-brother will be devastated to hear this._

“I return your pet to you Gib.”

“ **...** ”

Pulling her white mask off, the Impure One smirked, “tell your sister I’m coming for her head next.”

“ **Is this revenge, Impure One?** ”

“Revenge? Oh no, Gib you misunderstand…” Closing the distance, the Impure One reached up to grip Gib’s hair and pulled him down to eye level, forcing the Godling to kneel. He winced in pain as the grip on his hair tightened, “this isn’t revenge, this is a present. A present from an old friend.”

Releasing her grip, the Impure One summoned her staff, the six foot black scythe-esque staff, and pointed it at Gib, summoning chains to wrap around him, “I’ll be back. One rotation down, six more to go yes? Goodbye, Gib.” The Impure One let out a maniacal laugh before her body broke off into a murder of black crows, flying away from the godling.

The maniacal laugh stayed with Gib like a whisper even when he broke his bindings and buried his sister-brother’s pet, whispering a prayer for the creature before returning inside. He saw the looks of concern on the human’s faces but brushed it off, returning to his post.

Today he survived his encounter with death. He wonders if he will survive when the seven rotations come to pass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooooooh, a Gib POV. I'm probably going to do two more from Gib's POV and maybe another one from Old Lace, just to spice it up a little.
> 
> Next chapter will be the Christmas chapter!
> 
> Now if I can find a way to do the chapter without Nico...
> 
> Side note: I know I've been using the term sister-brother and brother-sister when Gib talks about the other gods, and I wanted to clarify on that. The comics use it, and I could've find which on is which, so I assume that sister-brother is referring to the female one and brother-sister is referring to Gib's blue-skinned brother. I'm not entirely sure if that's correct, but I like the idea, so that's the way it rolls in my fic.


	16. Wretched Peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Christmas, but not everyone wants to celebrate.
> 
> They should be worried about more important things, Alex says, but who really listens to him anymore?
> 
> Also, what exactly is Chase trying to hide?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back?!
> 
> Sorry guys, I promise I wasn't neglecting any of you, I was moving in for college and things got hectic (crying, unpacking, etc.). But now I'm back with a new chapter! Woooo! I really hope you guys aren't mad lol
> 
> So, this is probably the third to last or second to last chapter for this fic and I'm probably going to start the sequel (or the prequel?) after I wrap this up. I want to turn this into a series, but idk, what do you guys think? lemme know!

“Chase, not that we don’t love you or anything, but where exactly did you get all this?”

 

Karolina looked around the Hostel, amazed at the decorations and the christmas tree (an actual Christmas tree!), which was surely impossible on Chase’s salary. Gert scowled suspiciously, eyes watching Chase and Molly happily hang the lights on their Christmas tree. Something was wrong, but Gert and Karolina kept it to themselves for now. After all, Molly was having fun, spending Christmas with them for the first time in years. Gert wouldn’t do anything to ruin that for her. Tugging at the ugly sweater she had on at Molly’s request, Gert decided to start setting the plates up for dinner, Nudging Karolina to help her.

 

Gib stood by the door, watching the humans decorate their home when he felt something sharp poke at his back. Gib debate moving to the side, but stayed put, as his sister-brother had told him to do. He ignored the robotic voice yelling through the door to be let in, intent on keeping him out, though Gib narrowed his eyes in irritation as the door knob continued to poke at his back. When the poking stopped and the banging started, Gib tried his best to ignore it all, but Chase turned around and getured wildly with his hands to let the person in, only to be met with any unimpressed look. It resulted in a staring match between Chase and the godling before Gib sighed and stood up, moving to the side to let the person in.

 

Doombot looked up at Gib, potatoes in hand, and did his best to glare, “knell, Mongrel! Do you not have any idea of who I am?”

 

“Doom!”

 

“Hello, Victor Mancha. Is this a new bodyguard for you?”

 

“Not exactly…”

 

Chase held a hand up, stopping Doombot, “sorry Doom, but you have to leave. We kind of held prisoner in our own home and we can’t have people visiting.”

 

“So you are rescinding the invitation?”

 

“Wait,” Gert interjected, a smug look on her face, “the Gibborim said we couldn’t leave, but they never said we couldn’t have visitors. Besides, Gib’s here. We’re technically not breaking any rules here either, so it’s not like they can punish us. If they wanted us to be completely isolated they should’ve said so, right?”

 

Molly peeked out from the kitchen, juggling a stack of pies, “yeah, let Doom stay!”

 

“Indeed, that is sound logic.”

 

Doombot walked past the godling with a flourish of his coat, the fabric hitting Gib in the face. The godling frowned but did nothing, watching the humans and the robot disappear to the dining room, Chase asking Doombot for help on the body he had ready for Victor.

 

Taking some time to herself, Gert walked up to her room and laid on the bed, holding the remote to the time machine in her hands.

 

“Already done with the holiday spirit Gert?”

 

Gert didn’t look over at the doorway, but replied with a somber voice, “I just keep thinking about how in a few days, the world could end and it’s somewhat my own fault.”

 

“This isn’t your fault, Gert.”

 

“How would you know, though. You don’t have any Pride blood in you, I bet ib would let you leave if you wanted to leave.”

 

“Well, I don’t think I even have blood or DNA in my body, and if I did have any, it would’ve been designed by Ultron. Besides, I don’t want to leave.”

 

Gert turned to look at Victor, eyes widening when she saw the cyborg.

 

“Oh my god, Victor!”

 

Victor wiggled his fingers, scrutinizing the movement, “what do think about it? Doombot’s been yelling at Chase about how fragile it is, but I kind of like it. I do feel a little naked though.”

 

Indeed, what was once just a head taped onto other electronics and items to get around was now firmly attached to a skeletal frame of a body, a cheap replica of the cyborg’s original human-like body. Gert briefly wondered if Victor could eat with a body like that.

 

“So, like can you feel anything?”

 

Victor nodded his head,  “I can move it fine. It’s just weird, though I guess your days of carting me are over, Gert.”

 

“I never minded that I needed to cart you around though. I kind of liked it.” Gert smiled at the cyborg, patting the spot next to her, “come here.”

 

Victor obeyed, walking a little shakingly to the bed and sat down, resting his hands on the tubes meant to be his thighs, partially disappointed that he couldn’t feel the sensation of his hands on the metal frame.

 

Gert also rested her hand on his thigh, marveling at the cheap frame that is Victor’s body, “so you can’t feel any of this?”

 

“Not really, no. But I can imagine the feeling of it and knowing  _ is  _ feeling. I know I’m sitting next to you. I know I’m..”

 

The cyborg didn’t finish his sentence, instead choosing to wrap his own fingers around Gert’s. They sat in a comfortable silence until Victor noticed the strange rectangular device next to Gert.

 

“What’s this Gert?”

 

Bringing the box over, Gert showed it to Victor, “It’s the remote for the time machine.”

 

“Were you thinking of jumping again?”

 

Gert pressed her lips together into a thin line and shrugged her shoulders. Truth to be told, not even she knows what she wanted to do with the time machine yet and she didn’t have any intentions on sharing what she intends to do. Looking up at Victor’s innocently curious eyes, Gert figured she had nothing to lose for telling him.

 

“I was thinking of going back, all of us. To get away from the Gibborim.”

 

It was a tempting thing, to run away from their problems, but Victor thought about it rationally and shook his head at the idea, “Gert, that won’t save humanity. All we’d be doing is forcing other people into our mess. You heard the gods, if we don’t cooperate, they’ll just find others that will.” Victor didn’t want to crush Gert’s hopes, but logically it would’ve been a bad idea.

 

“Gert, if we all jump and try to change this, who knows what will happen. I know you don’t believe in the sanctity of the timeline, but, for my sake, don’t try it. Please.”

 

“What if… what if I went back? Maybe that’s why I was brought here, to go back and warn you guys in the future.”

 

“Gert…” Victor cupped Gert’s cheek with his hand, resting his forehead against hers. What he was about to say was selfish, it holds no logic, no reason at all. It’s not fair to everyone else in the house fighting for survival (well, he supposes Alex doesn’t count), but if it’ll save Gert, the cyborg thinks that logic wouldn’t need to be applied.

 

“Go. go back to where it began. You have two year, the two years we stole from you. Take that time to get everything ready, I trust you.”

 

Gert looked up into Victor’s eyes, silently pleading with him to come with her, but the cyborg shook his head, “I belong here. I’m going to fight for it.” Victor’s eyes glowed with a flame of conviction and promise, one Gert had seen a few times. A part of her wants to convince Victor to come with her, but she knew in heart that she would regret that decision down the road.

 

Before they could do anything else, Molly peeked her head in to tell them that dinner was ready, Old Lace and Rufus following close behind. Rufus meowed at the pair, an odd glint in his eyes that unnerved Gert. Usually the cat’s eyes were warm and friendly, but for some reason, today there was something mysterious in the yellow orbs, like he knew something no one else did. Gert chose to ignore for now, deciding to wait until after dinner to talk to Molly about it.

 

Sitting down at the dinner table, everyone took a look at the amount of food that was set out. At that point, they no longer questioned where all the food came from, only that they were all hungry and the food looked delicious. Chase came back with a picture of juice and sat at the head of the table, grinning widely.

 

As everyone settled down to eat, Karolina frowned, noting the empty space they left for Gib and Alex, “did anyone call them over? It’s Christmas, we can put aside our differences for one night.”

 

Nobody made the move to get up, though Molly was stuffing her face with the ham. Chase sighed, setting his cutlery down, “I’ll go get them.”

 

Walking out to Gib, the blonde man cleared his throat, “hey, you know you can join us for dinner. We may not like you all too much, but it’s Christmas.” When Gib did not budge from his spot, only staring at Chase with a blank look, Chase sighed and shrugged his shoulder, “well, if you want to join us, you’re welcome to.” As the blonde man walked up the stairs to Alex’s room, Gib raised his eyebrows, eyes lighting up in curiosity and surprise at the human’s invitation.

 

Chase opened the door to Alex’s room, cringing at how dark it was in there. Spotting the man in a corner tossing a baseball at the wall, he called out to him, “we’re having dinner. You can join us. We still hate you, but we’re not going to starve you.” Chase pulled out an ugly sweater, “here, put this on.”

 

“I guess I haven’t really eaten since I died. Why not?”

 

Shrugging the sweater on, Alex followed Chase down to the dining room, ignoring Doombot’s remark of him being another homeless teen that was taken in. Alex wisely sat in the furthest chair away from everyone else. An awkward silence passed as Chase asked anyone if they wanted some casserole.

 

“No? I guess it’s more for me then.”

 

“So, we’re really just eating.”

 

Gert decided to add a snarky comment as she sliced herself some turkey, “that would be the point of dinner, Wilder.”

 

“So no one has a plan for the Giborrim?”

 

Chase clenched his jaw in irritation, “it’s Christmas, this can wait until tomorrow.” At that point, Alex had reached the end of his patience and slammed his hands on the surface of the table, “we need to talk about it now! Not tomorrow or next week! We only have two days left to come up with something and all you’re doing is ignoring the problem, Chase! If you’d just listen —”

 

“Well I’m not listening.”

 

Chase ignored the look of disappointment and offense on Alex’s face and stood up from the table, muttering that he was going to go out to run some errands. With Chase gone, Doombot felt it was a good time to speak up, “it seems like you do not get along with the new human. However, if what the new human is correct, then it would be beneficial to listen to what he has to say. I, for one, am interested.”

 

Molly was the first agree with Doombot, turning around to look at Alex. Gert frowned and glanced a Karolina and Victor, who both reluctantly nodded their heads in agreement.

 

Seeing everyone agreeing to at least hear him out, Alex nodded, “Alright, so here’s the plan…”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Tugging the thick winter jacket tighter around his body, Chase took a deep breath, blue eyes staring straight in front of him. It wasn’t uncommon for it to snow in the area during the winter, but a snowstorm was a whole different story. Chase appreciated that the storm was letting up a little when he stepped outside, but considering he slipped on ice at the corner of the road, he’s not so forgiving of the weather and of the person causing the unusual storm.

 

Stepping down the rows of tombstones, Chase looked around, spotting a figure in black. Walking over to the figure, he gently nudged their shoulder, receiving a grunt in response. Passing over a single flower, Chase helped the other person clear out the snow around the tombstone.

 

“So, how have you been?”

 

The figure in black paused, “fine.” 

 

Chase frowned, observing the figure more closely, noting the heavy bags under the eyes, the paleness of the skin, and the insane glint in their eyes. He knew that the corruption had been taking over at a much faster rate than usual and looking at her now, Chase could see the damage that had been done to her body.

 

“I know I keep telling you this, but you need to get over it. It wasn’t your fault she died, just like it wasn’t mine. You can’t keep clinging onto the past. Please, this isn’t good for you, I can clearly see that in your face, it’s taking control of you.” Chase stepped closer and place a hand on the figure’s shoulder trying to convey his feelings across, but the other person just shrugged it off, as if the hand was like fire.

 

“It’s not time yet. There are still things to be done here. The plan is in motion and I will have my revenge.”

 

Without waiting for a response, the figure in black turned and walked in the opposite direction, pausing momentarily to toss a package back at Chase.

 

“You will need this. Merry Christmas.”

 

The snowstorm picked up, obscuring the view. When the snowstorm let up, the figure was gone, including the footprints that were made in the snow. Clutching the box close, Chase merely sighed and turned to look at the headstone, silently wishing a Merry Christmas, and walked in the opposite direction back to the Hostel. He suspects that there will be questions as to how it is that he was able to leave, but for now, he will enjoy the momentary silence of the walk home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright, that was probably the longest chapter of this fic and to be honest, it's not too long. I'm working on it!
> 
> Next chapter: the gods are back to ensure that the kids made good of their promise and Alex (and unknowingly, Karolina) have a plan up their sleeve.
> 
> comment, kudos, you know the drill!
> 
> also, lemme know if you're interested in making this into a series and if you want the next fic to be a sequel or prequel!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
